Transformers Diaires: Kindred Sparks
by xXBlack'BladeXx
Summary: She was falling into the darkness of despair. He was losing himself. She vowed never to trust or love anyone ever again. He didn't know how he'd ever be able to love someone again. She was human. He became one. Then they found each other. She found love and trust. He found love and redemption. Together they saved each other. Together they became family. Together they were one.
1. The Living AllSpark

The Living AllSpark

Since the beginning of time, there has always been a continuous struggle for power between the two forces of good and evil. On Cybertron, there was only one object that could truly tip the balance between good and evil. This was the AllSpark. But in a battle between these two forces, it was destroyed; its knowledge and power thought to have been lost forever. The battle between good and evil continues.

However, though it has been destroyed, the Cube's knowledge and power still endures. A single shard of the AllSpark remains, and within it, all that had been the Cube. It lies in waiting, ever watchful as it seeks for a host who is capable of hosting its knowledge and power. One who has been chosen by the Primes.

And then, as surely as it is prophesied, there will come a day when the Cube shall find the chosen one. This host shall be found in the form of a young girl. A lost daughter. A mere child reborn through fire and baring the mark of the Primes. She is a diamond in the rough. The Cube shall choose her and mark her, and, once she has proven herself truly worthy, will transfer its power and knowledge into her, so that she shall become the Living AllSpark. She is a true treasure and both sides seek her out to tip the balance between good and evil in the perpetual war.


	2. Prologue

Prologue

Primes, six of them, stood before a pool of crystal clear water. They spoke to each other in hushed voices; talking of things that concerned the image within the water at their feet. And the image, which the pool contained, was of a great being. Like them, he too, was Cybertronian. The armor, which plated his body, was decorated in deep blue and red flames, his face noble and strong with the mark of the Primes' upon his face. His optics were of the purest sapphire blue. When he walked he carried himself with the kingly and proud swagger of a great leader and warrior. He was Optimus Prime. Yet he concerned the Primes, for they had seen a darkness begin to loom over his spark. And though it was not quite the same as the darkness that had settled over the spark of their fallen brother ages ago, it was indeed a grave darkness. And they knew that if he continued to travel this path and let the darkness consume his spark, he too would lose his way and become like the Fallen.  
Suddenly one of the Primes turned to one of the others. " You're son seems to have lost his humanity, my brother," he said.  
The second Prime nodded sorrowfully in agreement. " His disposition has greatly changed ever since he was brought back to life by the human boy nearly three earth years ago," he explained. " I believe my son feels as though he failed."  
" He_** did**_ fail!" a third Prime snarled harshly. " The fate of our race rested upon his shoulders, and he let it fall by allowing himself to be killed by that pit-forsaken Decepticon, Megatron. Had it not been for the human all would have been lost! He is a disgrace to the Autobot name, as well as the Prime legacy!"  
" Hold your temper, brother," the first Prime ordered. " I do not disagree that Optimus Prime failed us once, but I find it difficult to believe that he would ever allow himself to fail again.

" He has been given a second chance," the fourth added with a nod.  
" He need only to locate it," a fifth chimed in. " Once he has, he will know what to do."  
" Well then where is this "second chance"?" the third demanded. " I need not remind you that time is of the essence, I'm sure."  
Suddenly the sixth Prime, who had been kneeling beside the pool the entire time, looked up at the others. Raising a digit to his lips, he hushed them. " Hush, my brothers," he shushed. Then he pointed out to the center of the pool where the image of Optimus Prime was rippling away and being replaced with the image of a young girl. " Look. She is here."  
The others looked down into the water to the image of the girl. It was only then that the water became still and began to glow.  
The second Prime opened his mouth to speak. " The chosen one," he murmured. " The time is now upon us."


	3. Little Girl Lost

" Oh, how I wish… for soothing rain. All I wish is to dream again. My loving heart… lost in the dark. For hope I'd give my everything…" Nightwish; _Nemo_

1

Little Girl Lost

Five Years Ago;

Midnight. Could the clock beside my bed really have only just clicked on midnight? It felt so much later than that. Hell, it felt like an eternity! But then again when you were only ten-years-old and laying in bed wide awake, listening to the sounds of quarreling parents that had been going on for hours at a time already, _**everything**_ felt like an eternity, not just the time.

" I don't know why I put up with a bitch like you!" my father's voice raged from downstairs. " I'm still young! I could go out and pick up any girl I wanted right now!" His voice was slurred and slow. He hadn't even been out to the bar yet, and he was already wasted on the beer in our refrigerator.

" If she's a hooker maybe!" my mother shouted back. " And that's assuming you had enough money for her to even look at you to begin with!" Just from hearing the pitch in her voice I could tell she was almost ready to burst into tears.

" Well at least she would know how to make a profit, as opposed to you!" Dad bellowed back. " How much did that son of a bitch pay you to screw him? Ten bucks? Not even, I bet! More like five!"

" Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Mom shrieked. " I was drunk when I met him! The night I spent with him was nothing!"

" Is that why he keeps calling and coming around here?! Huh?! You stupid, worthless, wretched little whore!" The sound of a blow landing and a shrill scream quickly followed.

My eyes stung with tears. I bit my lip. Oh, how I wanted to jump out of bed, run down those stairs and scream at them at the very top of my lungs until I couldn't anymore to stop it! To just stop it! They were my parents! They were supposed to love each other no matter what! Oh, I wanted so badly to say that to them. But if there's one thing I'd learned from the past couple of years it was that it was pointless to try and stop their arguments. They would simply "apologize" to each other and wait until they were sure I was asleep to start up again. So I just rolled over onto my side, my back to my cracked open bedroom door, and clamped my pillow over my ears in a desperate effort to try and shut them out.

It didn't work.

I held the pillow tighter over my ears and rolled up into a small protective ball beneath my covers. " Please, stop," I whimpered out into the darkness. " Please, just stop fighting." My cheeks burnt as the tears descended down them. I couldn't blame my dad for being angry. I may have been young, but I was wise beyond my years—I had to be. I knew Mom had been with another man and Daddy had every right to be mad at that. Hell,_** I**_ was mad at her for it! But this thing between them had been going on a long time before that. They hadn't been happy with each other for as long as I could remember. I just wanted desperately for it to stop. For all of it to stop. But it _**never**_ stopped!

Suddenly there was the sound of crying at my door.

Quickly rolling back over, I sat up. To my horror my little sister was standing in the doorway. " Gemma!" I exclaimed. " What're you doin' up, bug-a-boo?"

" Sissy," the four-year-old sobbed, holding her stuffed bear as close as she could to her chest, " Mommy and Daddy are fighting."

I nodded. " I know, kiddo," I almost sobbed herself. " I know."

" Why are they fighting?" Gemma asked, more tears streaming down her face. " Why?"

" I dunno."

" When will they stop and go back to loving each other again, like everybody else's mommies and daddies?"

I had to bite my lip to keep from crying. Ten-years-old and I already had to stop myself from crying to be strong for my baby sister. I shook my head. " I dunno, bug-a-boo. I dunno." Then I threw back my covers and held my arms out to the little girl. " Come here, Gemma. Come sleep with me tonight, okay?"

That was all the invitation the little mocha brown haired four-year-old needed. Quick as she could she scurried across the room and clambered up into my bed. Scrambling up and over the top of me she made herself comfortable on the side farthest from the door and the screaming going on beyond it.

I brushed the hair away from Gemma's cheek before placing a kiss on it. Then I lay down and pulled the sheets up over us. As a crashing sound and another scream came from down below, I wrapped my arms around my little sister and pulled her in close, cocooning her against me. I rested my cheek on Gemma's and rocked her.

" Artmis, when will Mommy and Daddy stop?!" Gemma wailed, holding her teddy bear even tighter.

" Soon, bug-a-boo," I soothed her, just as desperate as ever for my parents to stop their brawling. " Soon." Then I thought to myself, " _I hope_." I kept rocking my sister and trying to hush her cries, but that's not an easy task when you were on the verge of breaking into tears yourself. Still I kept trying, because if I didn't get Gemma to stop crying soon, I really would start bawling. The tears were already blurring my vision and stinging my eyes. So I did the one thing that had always worked for me when I was little. I began singing. " Hushaby… don't you cry. Go to sleep, my little baby. When you wake… you will have… all the pretty little ponies…"

I don't remember falling asleep that night, but I must have, because the next thing I knew I was waking up to the sun rising. Groaning I rotated my neck around, popping it and stretching out its muscles. Then I turned back to Gemma, who was still wrapped in my embrace, sound asleep. The tearstains were still prominent on her face. That fact both deeply saddened and greatly infuriated me, and once again I found myself asking the same resonating questions that had haunted me for as long as I could remember. How? How could our parents be doing this to us? Their fighting and quarreling. Couldn't they see that it was killing Gemma and me?! How could they keep putting us through this living hell?! How could they keep putting _**themselves**_ through it?! They were tearing our family apart!

Suddenly the sound of my dad's diesel pickup broke the quiet of the morning.

I froze. My stomach twisted into a knot. My heart plummeted. I don't know how I knew what was going on, but I did.

Dad…

Was…

Leaving.

I threw back the covers and jumped to the floor, ignoring the fact of how cold the wood was on my bare feet. Blindly I sprinted out of my room, down the hall and down the stairs, taking two at a time. When I got to the bottom I seized hold of the banister to stop myself. With the rest of my momentum, I spun around the post so that I was facing into the living room.

Mom was sitting on the couch, her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Beyond that out the picture window was Dad, loading up his suitcases into his Ram.

" No!" I screamed, and before I knew it I was running again. I made a mad dash for the door and threw it open. The chilly October air swept into the room, raising goosebumps on my bare arms and legs, but I ignored it.

Dad was just getting into the truck.

I had to stop him! " Daddy!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face now. " Daddy, no!

He hadn't heard me. Or if he had he had chosen to ignore me. His door slammed shut and he began to back away down the slope that led up to our garage.

I was in a dead run for his pickup now. " Daddy!" I shrieked. " No, Daddy, don't leave me!" Each scream felt like it was ripping out my throat, turning it raw. The tears were molten lava down my cheeks. " Daddy!"

He was going off down the mile long driveway of our farm now.

I continued to barrel after him, senseless to the sharp gravelly rocks jabbing my feet. " Daddy, stop!" I cried out. " Stop, Daddy, please! Please stop!"

But he didn't stop. He didn't even see me. Or if he had it was just like before and he chose to ignore me.

But I didn't stop either. I kept chasing after him until we had reached the road at the end of our driveway, and even then I tailed him for another good quarter-mile down the highway, screaming the entire way, desperate to make him stop.

He never did.

Finally it was all too much. I couldn't force myself to take another step, and believe me I tried. Exhausted, gasping and wheezing for breath I came to a stop. My knees buckled and I feel to the pavement. I just barely managed to catch myself from face planting into it. For I minute I sat there, my head bowed as I tried to get some air back into my lungs. Then I raised my head and gazed off after the trail of dust and the small golden speck of a pickup off in the distance: all that was left of my father. My panting became shallow and sporadic as a fit of sobs built up inside my chest. And then it all let loose. " **DADDY!**" I wailed out in sheer devastation. " **DADDY! NOOOOOO!**" I hung my head again and started to sob wildly. Then I fell to my side and curled up into the fetal position right there in the middle of the road, not caring if I lived or died, because I was already dead.

How? How could he just leave me like that? He was my father. He was supposed to love me. He hadn't even said good-bye…

Hatred burned through my veins, erasing the feelings of abandonment and desolation. Hatred for my father for leaving. Hatred for my mother for sleeping with another man and thus causing my father to ultimately decide to leave. Hatred for Gemma for not bringing my parents together after her birth like they had both hoped another baby would. Hatred for the world for being such a dark, cruel and unfeeling place. Hatred for every fucking thing under the damn sun! Hell, I even hated the sun for shining so nice and bright as though everything was absolutely perfect when my entire world had just been torn in two!

It was at that moment when I decided it.

Love and trust and hope were for the stupid and the weak. Love and trust and hope weren't real. The only things that were real were anger and pain and betrayal and disappointment. Everything else that was good was a figment of the imagination. Slowly I rose to my feet, wiped my eyes and nose, and gazed off in the direction my father had gone. I made a vow. I would never believe in trust and hope. And I would never love anyone.

Not…

Ever…

Again.


	4. Broken

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

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" Because I'm broken when I'm open… and I don't feel like I am strong enough. 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome… and I don't feel right when you're gone away. You've gone away… you don't feel me here… anymore…" Seether; _Broken_

2

Broken

Present Day;

Dead. Yep, that was me: dead. I was so dead. _**So **_very dead. This was it for me. The minute I got home my mother would kill me. Jump on me, rip my head off, and kill me. People who knew my family would someday meet my mother walking down the sidewalk and ask, "Hey, how's Artemis," and she would say, "Oh, I killed her." My first day in town and I was already coming home in the back of a cop car. That had to be a new record for me.

I released a heavy sigh and slouched against the seatback. " Well," I whispered to myself, " at least I got police protection." That is, of course, assuming these guys wanted to protect me. And I seriously doubt they did.

" This your house, kid?" one of the policemen from the front seat called back to me.

I looked out my window to the house he was pointing at. It was a quaint, cozy looking little thing; two stories, brick, pine green shingles, a covered front porch with a porch swing and some whicker chairs, a little fenced in, perfectly landscaped front yard with one shade tree. Screwed to the wall beside the door were the numbers 2,1, and 2, shining gold. " 212 Sycamore," I recited my new address. " Yep, this is the place all right." Then I bit my lip. " _Damn it_," I thought to myself. I had been hoping that they would've had a harder time finding my house. Yet another perfect example of why I didn't believe in hope. I sank back and slouched as far down in the seat as I could, wishing with every fiber of my being that I could turn invisible. This was one conflict I didn't want to get into.

We pulled off the street and rolled up into the driveway, parking right behind my mom's navy blue Explorer. Then the two cops got out and made their way back around to my door. One opened it while the other reached in and snagged my arm. " Come on, let's go," he ordered, his hand clutching my arm like a vice. He pulled me out of the back seat. Then the other guy slammed the door shut and seized hold of my other arm, his grip just as tight. They started walking me to the house.

It felt like it took us forever to walk down the sidewalk to the porch, and, judging from how much I was sweating and how shallow my breath was, I'm sure that I must have blacked out about as least twice. But they never stopped hauling me. And then finally we were standing there on the porch in front of the door, ringing the doorbell.

It was a few seconds before the door opened. When it did I was greatly relieved that the eyes peeking out at us weren't the emerald green ones of my mother, but instead the doe brown ones of my little sister. A breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding escaped me.

Seeing who it was, Gemma opened the door all the way. " Artemis," she groaned, " not again."

" Guess I'm just… into punishment," I replied with a shrug.

" What'd you do this time?"

" Can you just call Mom here? Believe me, you'll find out soon enough."

Gemma nodded her head, causing the mocha brown curls of her wig to bounce around her shoulders. Then she turned back into the house and cupped her hands around her mouth. " Mom!" she called. " Mom, you need to come to the door!"

" Thanks, sis," I whispered with a smile. Gemma was the only exception to the vow I had made nearly five years ago. I'd tried to shut her out of my life, telling myself that she was the reason Mom and Dad had split-up, but in the end I just couldn't convince myself of it. It was hard to hate the little sister that you had looked out for since the day she was born. The little sister that you had let climb in bed and sleep beside you when your parents had screamed at each other all night long. The little sister that had stayed by your side, reading and singing to you while you laid in a hospital bed in a coma on account of some asshole beating the ever-living shit out of you. I loved Gemma more than anything and I trusted her with my life and would protect her with my very life if it came to it. I'd already proven that.

Gemma just smiled back at me and gave me a single nod. Then, when we heard Mom's footsteps coming from the kitchen she turned to go back into the house. " Good luck," she mouthed the words before turning away and heading up the stairs to go to her room and lay down beside the vent in the floor to eavesdrop on us. She was sneaky like that.

I returned the nod and watched as she disappeared into the corridor that was the stairway.

" Crystal Artemis Savage!" the sharp gasp of my name followed with the sound of a shattering plate caught my attention. Turning I saw my mom standing with one foot in and one foot out of the kitchen door way. A dishrag was hanging across her shoulder and the shattered remains of one of our dinner plates were lying at her feet. Her eyes were wide with shock. One hand was splayed across her chest and the other clamped over her mouth.

I smiled sheepishly. " Hey, Mom."

" This your daughter, ma'am?" the officer on my right arm questioned. Authority was heavy in his voice and he slightly held me out in front of him.

" _Well, duh_," I wanted to say to him. " _That's just why I called her 'Mom'_." But I held my tongue. If I wanted these guys protection in the next five to ten minutes I needed to stay on their good side for as long as possible. Well… okay, '_**better**_' would be a more appropriate term. I wasn't exactly on their good side to begin with.

Mom strode forward, nodding her head. " Yes. Yes she is. Has she done something wrong?"

" Yes, I'm afraid she has, ma'am," the officer on my left answered with a nod. " This afternoon my partner and I found your daughter in the possession of stolen goods from the local convenience store. She was carrying… what all did she have on her, Jim?"

" A set of earphones, a couple Mountain Dews, a movie, and three to four packs of mini-Oreo cookies," I supplied before Officer Jim could.

" Ah, thank you," the officer replied.

" Don't mention it," I said flatly, pushing my glasses up on my nose.

" Artemis!" Mom hushed me.

I shut up.

" Luckily," Officer Jim continued, " we discovered it was all a mix-up and got it taken care of. But, ma'am, I must warn you that this will affect your daughter's probation. Possession of stolen goods is no small matter. We let her off with a warning this time, being her first time here in Eddyville, and this being a mix-up and all. But should it happen again, we'll be forced to put it on her record."

My gut knotted. I couldn't help but shudder at the thought of going back to juvie.

" Of course," Mom sighed. " Thank you officers."

" It's perfectly all right, ma'am," the second officer responded.

" We see cases like hers all the time here in Eddyville," Officer Jim confirmed.

" Good-for-nothin's."

" Failures."

" Losers."

That wasn't the first time I'd been called that, but despite that fact, it still cut deep. Tears pricked at my vision and I hung my head down so that my bangs would hide my eyes. "Good-for-nothing", "failure", "loser": that's what I was to society.

" You have a good rest of the day, ma'am," Officer Jim said as he tipped his hat, released me and receded back down the sidewalk. His partner soon followed him.

" Thank you, officers," Mom called after them once again. " And you too." Her eyes trailed after them for a minute longer, then they came to me, burning with hell-fire and brimstone. " Inside, young lady, now."

Not even looking up or saying anything I shoved my hands in the pockets of my fatigues and stepped inside. I flinched as the door slammed shut behind me.

" Our first day in town," Mom roared in my face, " and you manage to come home in the back of a police car! Of all the things you've done, Artemis, this has to top them all! Really! Arrested your first day in town!

" Mom, it was no big deal," I said. " It's just ever since I got out of juvie the cops just won't get off my…" I dropped off once I saw the look on her face. I released a heavy sigh. " Look, Mom, I didn't even do anything. I didn't steal the stuff. I just left my bag unattended for a couple minutes and some sketchy kids hoisted the stuff and planted it in my bag, that's all."

" Well if you didn't steal it, then why were you arrested?"

" Uh…" I stuttered, scratching the back of my neck, "… well… um…" I shuffled my combat boots nervously on the tile.

" I'm waiting," Mom warned me, tapping her foot in irritation.

" Well, um… I kinda… you could say… sorta… possibly… in a way… evaded arrest."

" Artemis!" Mom shouted in exasperation.

" Well, I just heard their sirens and saw their lights out of the corner of my eye and I just kinda… panicked. I didn't know what they were coming after me for so I just blacked out and broke into a sprint. I only ran about a couple blocks before I stopped, so it wasn't that bad. They cuffed me, took me to the station, and we got the whole thing straightened out, just like Officer Jim said."

" You still made a big mistake, Artemis," Mom pointed out. " And that mistake… brought you home… in the back of a police car!"

" Yeah, I know, but…"

" Artemis, listen to me," Mom interrupted, putting her hands on my shoulders. " Sweetie, this is our fourth move in three years, five if you counted the three months we spent at Aunt Clara's. This is another chance for us to start over in a good town with decent people. And, honey… we just can't afford for anymore mistakes right now."

" Yeah. I know, Mom."

" Artemis, this is your chance to make something of yourself."

" I know, Mom."

" Concentrate on your school work, keep your nose clean, work hard, and after all that maybe… just maybe… you'll get to go to college."

At that I snorted. " Yeah," I laughed cynically. " That's a good joke, Mom. Me… go to college? Yeah, right! Hoo-hoo, that's a riot!"

" I'm serious, Artemis," Mom insisted. " You get your head on straight and it could be an option."

" Somehow I doubt that, Mother."

" Why?"

" Because I am not smart enough for that. I am not smart enough and I am not good enough. College is only an option for people who are worthy of it, and I, in all simplicity, am not. Besides, it's not like anyone would take notice of me anyway. No one ever does."

" Artemis…"

" I don't wanna talk about this anymore." I turned away and started for the stairs.

Mom followed after me. " Artemis, honey. Look, I know it's been tough since Dad left but…"

" Tough?!" I snorted. Stopping halfway up the stairs I looked down at her. " To say that's it's been "tough" since Dad left is the biggest understatement of the century. Mom, it's been absolute frickin' hell!"

" Oh, please, Artemis," Mom scoffed. " Don't you think you're being a little over dramatic?"

I crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance. " Um… no," I answered staring her straight in the eyes. " Not when you consider what I've been through. And I've been through a lot these last five years." My entire body and soul suddenly wracked with phantom pain as I recalled everything that had happened to me since I was ten, starting with the morning my father left. I didn't want to remember any of it—living it once was more than enough—but if there was one thing I'd learned is that the memories you want to forget are the ones that stay with you.

Mom's face suddenly became soft with sympathy. " I know, sweetie," she crooned, reaching out and touching my shoulder.

" That's just it!" I blurted out, jerking away from her touch as tears began to blur my vision again. " You don't know! You _**never**_ know! No one will ever fucking know how I feel or what I feel or any fucking thing about me because nobody wants to know! Nobody cares, and I am fucking sick I tired of people lying to me by telling me that they do! They don't care…" I took a deep breath to try and gain some control of myself before the tears started flowing, "… and they never will."

Mom's face was pinched with pain. Tears for the both of us shimmered in her bright green eyes. She hated to see me in such emotional turmoil and apparently I must have hurt her feelings as well, but I was too busy dealing with my own pain and anger to care. " Oh, Artemis…" she whispered, reaching out to touch my hair.

" Don't…" I started to yell, but stopped myself as I flinched away, "… touch me. Just… just don't… okay?"

Mom pulled her hand away and we stood there in silence for a few moments.

Finally I took a deep breath. " I'm done," I sniffled, wiping my eyes. " I'm just… done. I'm going to my room." I turned to leave and continued up the staircase.

" Honey," Mom's voice, soft and cautious, came to my ears, halting me, " can't we talk about this?"

I glanced back over my shoulder at her. " We just did." And with that chilling statement I proceeded up the staircase, turned the corner, and stormed off to my room. When I got to my room I stepped inside and slammed the door as hard as I could which was pretty hard, considering the window on the opposing wall rattled. Only then did I allow my breath to catch.

The tears stung my eyes again and burned as they crept down my cheeks. My shoulders shook in well-practiced, quiet sobs. My knees buckled and I slid down the door until I was seated on the floor, my head hanging so that my bangs hid my eyes. I hugged my legs and pulled them close to my chest, hiding my face behind them. With my mouth muffled behind my arms and legs the sobs became slightly louder.

Oh, dear God, help me! I didn't want to feel like this anymore! I didn't want to feel alone and angry and bitter and hateful. I wanted to be able to believe in faith and hope and trust again. I wanted to let myself believe in them again. Most of all… I wanted to love again. To actually love again! Not just my sister, but my mother and my family and other people. But a heart can only be broken and mended and re-broken so much until its nearly impossible to feel anything other than bitterness and pain and desolation… and mine was completely shattered beyond repair.


	5. Falling in Darkness

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

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** " 'Cuz I'm losin' my sight… l****osin' my mind! Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine! Losin' my sight! Losin' My Mind! Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine…!" Papa Roach; **_**Last Resort **_

3

Falling in Darkness

Diego Garcia (Same Day);

Optimus Prime sat at the large, Autobot-sized cement desk in his quarters at Edwards Airforce Base. He sat with his optics closed and with his head held heavily in his hands. He wasn't in stasis, just thinking. Today was the third anniversary of his resurrection. On this very day at this very moment three years ago he had been brought back to life by the human boy Sam Witwicky through the Matrix. And, though he would never admit it to anyone, ever since that day he had never been the same. Of course it was expected of anyone to change after being dead and then being brought back to life, but this was different. Optimus' life hadn't gotten better; it had gotten worse. Much worse in fact.

The Prime couldn't remember much of his stay in the afterlife—most of the memories were blurry out of focus pictures—but what he could remember were feelings of shame and visions of his brothers and even his own sire telling him that he failed. Optimus knew he had failed. The fate of their race and of the Prime legacy had rested upon his shoulders and he had allowed it to fall by letting his spark be snuffed out by Megatron. If it had not been for Sam all hope would have been lost for both Autobots and Primes alike

" _**You failed,**_" the words of his brothers rang through the Autobot commander's processor as clearly as they had three years ago. " _**You let our legacy fall into ruin. You failed.**_"

Without warning, a single tear rolled down Optimus' noseplates and splashed down onto the desk. " I didn't mean to," he whispered, his voice slightly breaking as he shook his head. " I never meant for it to happen. I didn't mean to." He sniffled and hid his face in his hands before a choked sob escaped him. " I'm sorry, brothers… father. I'm sorry…" He crossed his arms on the desk and laid his massive head down on them, weeping softly.

Suddenly there came a loud banging on the door that caused the mech to jump out of his seat. " Come on, Prime!" the voice belonged to the weapons-specialist Ironhide. " Why'd'you gotta keep your door locked all the fraggin' time? Come on, open up!" The banging continued.

Mumbling a few choice words in Cybertronian, Optimus picked himself up off the floor, brushed off his brilliant blue and red-flamed armor, and stormed towards the door. Unlocking it he threw it open and it banged against the wall. " What _**is **_it, Ironhide?!" he demanded, eyes burning with anger.

'Hide was so caught off guard by Prime's behavior that he literally stumbled back from the massive, fuming frame of his commander. Then he looked up to see the biggest scowl anyone could ever conjure up twisting Optimus' faceplates as well as the coldest gleam in his optics. However, 'Hide wasn't the least bit surprised by that look. Anymore Prime seemed to be wearing that expression 24/7 365 days a year, like it was the only expression he had. And it wasn't exactly a secret that the commander's whole attitude had changed since he'd been brought back, despite how Prime tried to deny it and act as if nothing was wrong. The problem was that everybody else—even the humans—knew something was wrong. The question was 'what?'. Optimus wasn't exactly the kind of 'bot to open up to just anybody, even close and old friends. The only explanation was that something had happened to Prime in the afterlife when he'd met his brothers. But then that brought them back to 'what?'.

Shaking off his surprise, Ironhide put his hands on his hips and glared back at the taller mech. " What's with you and locked doors all of a sudden?" he restated his earlier question. " What, do you not trust us to keep out of your privacy anymore?"

" Ironhide, I am not in the mood for your stupid questions, now what is it?"

" Wow, what crawled up your tail-pipe and died?"

" Ironhide!"

" All right! All right, sheesh! Just askin'. I swear you're worse than 'Mia sometimes."

" Ironhide, whatever you came banging on my door about had better be important, or, Primus-so-help-me, I'll kick you to Cybertron and back for disturbing me from my rest!"

" Rest?" 'Hide snorted. " Since when do you take naps in the middle of the…" and that's when the black armored mech noticed it. Very light, almost imperceptible lubricant stains on Prime's faceplate. Optimus… Optimus had been crying? But Optimus never cried… at least that's what everyone thought. But then again, Prime had changed; he wasn't the 'bot they knew anymore. Ironhide decided to leave it alone, as bringing it up would only make Prime more—as the humans say—"bitchy" than usual as of late. " Your presence has been requested in the main hangar," he explained. " Fair warning; Galloway's there."

Optimus growled and cursed under his breath. Great, that's just what he needed, a nice long chat with the single most annoying human on this planet! Primus help him in controlling his temper: he'd need it. " Thank you, Ironhide," he said, rubbing the bridge of his noseplates. " I'll report there immediately." With that he stepped out into the hall, pulled his door closed behind him, and marched off towards the meeting he scornfully had to attend, sending another prayer to Primus for self-control on his part because he knew sure as hell that Galloway wasn't going to have any.

As Prime entered the main hangar everything fell silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the Autobot commander out of both awe and fear. Awe because that's how they always looked at him. Fear because, as of late, Prime had become more terrifying than any Decepticon. In other words, Optimus' change of attitude since his return affected everybody. Before Egypt the humans had had no real reason to fear him. Now it seemed like the littlest thing could set the big 'bot off. He was already throwing Skids and Mudflaps into the ocean ten times as much in the past three years as he had since the other 'bots had arrived on earth.

Ignoring the silence Optimus continued to stride down the center of the room towards the catwalk where Major William Lennox, Sergeant Epps, and Detective Galloway were waiting for him, as well as a video-feed of General Morshower. Just like every other human in the room, Lennox and Epps looked somewhat nervous and worried. Even Morshower looked fairly concerned. In contrast to everyone else, Galloway stood there with an irate sneer on his face, already ready to piss Prime off in whatever way he could.

He didn't waste anytime in going about it either.

" Optimus Prime, have I sure got a bone to pick with you!" the Detective shouted out before Prime was even halfway across the room.

" I'm sure you do," Optimus replied sardonically. He paused at his usual spot in front of the catwalk. " May I inquire just as to what this meeting is about?" He already had a pretty good idea of what it was about.

" It's concerning N.E.S.T's last mission, Prime," Morshower answered. " The battle with the 'cons in Peru a couple months back."

Prime nodded stoically. " Yes, what about it?"

" Detective Galloway here wants to discuss some of the statistics over with you," Lennox stated motioning to the man in the black suit.

" Yes, I most certainly do," Galloway agreed with a curt nod of his head. " Optimus Prime, have you any idea of the number of human casualties sustained from your last battle with the Decepticons?"

" I can't say that I do, Detective."

" 115!" Galloway snapped. " 115 human casualties, not counting the six N.E.S.T operatives who were killed during the mission. 115 _**civilian **_casualties, Prime! Usually you only come back with maybe half a dozen, but_** one-hundred and fifteen**_?! These numbers are unacceptable and inexcusable!"

Optimus felt his spark stop. 115 human civilian casualties sustained under his mission along with the lives of six N.E.S.T soldiers? That couldn't be right, it just… just couldn't be! " Are you for certain?" he asked.

Galloway held up some papers and waved them under the Autobot's nose. " It's all right here in black and white. 115 human civilian casualties under your watch, what do you have to say for that? Because I'm sure we would all just love to know!"

" Hey!" Epps broke in as he stormed up to Galloway. " We evacuated that area out as best we could!"

" Well apparently you didn't do it good enough!" Galloway snarled.

" Well excuse us for having to work fast and move our asses in order to take down a mother-fucking 'Con!" Lennox fumed. " I'd love to see you try any better, Galloway!"

" You are out of line, Major!"

" Fuck off!"

" Enough!"

The roar was so loud it seemed to shake the entire hangar. Every eye in the room turned to the owner of the voice, and then everyone cowered away from him, because right then and there Optimus Prime looked like he was about ready to kill.

Prime took a deep vent and released it noisily through his intakes. Then he looked Galloway straight in the eye. " Detective Galloway…" he said in a very measured voice, "… I am greatly sorry for the loss of so many innocent human lives and there is nothing I can say to right the wrong that happened." It was then the Prime's face twisted into the ugliest, stingiest, most disfigured look that would've done any Decepticon proud. " But if the loss of a few human lives is what it takes to rid your world of the Decepticon stench… so be it. And if these humans were too stupid to move when they were told… perhaps they deserved the fate they were dealt," his words were like bitter acid to everyone in the room. " Now… if you'll excuse me, I have duties I must attend to." The Prime nodded his massive head. " Major Lennox. Sergeant Epps. General Morshower. Detective." And with that, Optimus turned and left the hangar, leaving the atmosphere behind him in a tense, shocked silence.

" Is it just me," Epps whispered after a moment, " or did the big 'bot just sound like Megatron?"

" It's not just you, Epps," Lennox assured him with a shake of his head. " Prime's not the same, and I don't like what he's turning into. We're losin' him, Epps."

" And what happens if he defactos completely?"

" Well… let's just say that we won't be winning the war against the 'cons anytime soon."

Optimus stalked across the tarmac back to the Autobot hangar and down the hall towards his quarters. His processor was on overdrive. The blood of 115 people on his hands? The thought made him sick; his tank rolled. When he had first come to this planet and made the agreement with the United States government to form N.E.S.T and work with the humans he had not only promised to rid earth of the Decepticon threat… he had also promised to keep its people safe. And now he had gone and slain 115 of the lives he had promised to protect. Granted it was not done directly by his hands but close enough.

"_**And if these humans were too stupid to move when they were told…**_" his own words haunted him, "_**… perhaps they deserved the fate they were dealt**_." A shudder went through his chassis. He had sounded exactly like a Decepticon, exactly like the Fallen, exactly like… Megatron. What was happening to him? Everything he had ever fought for—freedom, peace—it all seemed pointless now… even stupid. The Autobot cause seemed worthless and didn't make sense anymore. " _I'm losing sight of my goals_," Optimus thought to himself. " _My promises. I'm losing sight of myself_."

And he wasn't far from wrong. Every day Prime could feel his spark grow a little bit heavier, a little bit darker. He could literally feel the darkness taking over his spark. And he didn't like it. In fact he loathed it more than he had ever loathed anything or anyone else in his entire life. He loathed himself! He wanted to change it, to redeem himself… but he didn't know how. And though he was sure that that's what his forebears had intended for him to do as well and that's why they had allowed him to be sent back… he couldn't see a way for it to be done. He couldn't see anything besides his own corruption and backslide " Perhaps it would have been better if I had just been allowed to stay dead," Optimus whispered to himself.

" Hey, Prime!"

Optimus froze in his tracks and turned to see Flareup and Arcee rolling up behind him. " Yes, what is it?"

" We were just wanting to know how the meeting went," Arcee replied with a shrug.

" It went… well… it just went," Prime answered hesitantly.

" What was it about?" Flareup questioned.

" Peru."

" Ah," the sisters replied in unison, each nodding their head.

" Yes," their commander agreed. " Now if you'll excuse me, girls, I wish to be left alone."

" Oh… uh… sure, Prime," Flareup said, giving Arcee a look.

" Whatever you say," the pink femme added.

Optimus nodded his thanks. Then he turned back around and proceeded on down the hall to his room.

" What'd'you think is up with the boss?" Flareup questioned her sister as they watched on after the blue and red-flamed mech.

" I don't really know," Arcee answered with a shrug. " All I know is that Prime hasn't been himself since his resurrection."

" Yeah, I know, but he's acting grumpier than usual."

" Maybe it has something to do with today. It is the third anniversary of Egypt you know."

" Yeah, maybe you're right."

Optimus tediously punched in the code for his room, stepped inside, and closed the door with a stabilizing servo. Then he trudged across his room to his large concrete berth and lowered his tired, aching chassis onto it. He rubbed his face and sighed through his intakes before looking up at the clock on his wall. Six hours till midnight; Primus, when would this day be over?! Each anniversary since Egypt had been a living hell, and today had been the worst one yet.

But of course it wasn't just the date and Optimus knew it. Yes, today just made it worse, but even after today was over he would still go on living like he was right now, and each day would get worse and worse and worse until his inevitable… fall. He couldn't let that happen. Something had to be done! But what? He knew that there was a second chance out there for him somewhere, but what was it and where was is? His brothers hadn't exactly made that clear. Did they expect him to find it on his own? Or were they going to give him a clue as to where it was? He knew that they weren't going to show him outright or else it wouldn't really be a second chance as it would be more a handout and where was the honor in that? But they would surely help set his feet on the path wouldn't they?

" Please, my brothers," Optimus prayed, " if there is indeed a second chance for me out there somewhere… please, show me some sort of sign." The Prime waited and listened intently, muscle cables taut and ready to spring into action. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Optimus hid his face in his hands. " I'm falling in darkness," he whispered as more tears started to drip down his cheekplates, " and there's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it."


	6. An Unexpected Gift

**Thanks to XxRepublicBlastxX, Alice Gone Madd, and Transformersgirl4538 for leaving amazing comments. You guys rock!**

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" The world comes to life and everything's right… from beginning to end when you have a friend by your side… to help you to find… the beauty you are when you open your heart and believe in… the gift of a friend…" Demi Lovato; _Gift of a Friend_

4

An Unexpected Gift

Eddyville, Montana;

It had been a week since my run-in with the police. We were right in the middle of unpacking the last few boxes of decor stuff when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Gemma, Mom, and I all froze and looked at each other in bafflement. Who could that possibly be? Quietly Mom rose, smoothed out her khakis, and stepped over the mess of empty boxes as she headed for the door. Gemma and I both looked after her then exchanged glances. We shrugged in unison, put down what was in our hands, stood up, and headed for the door as well. We just reached the hall when Mom opened the door. There was a tall woman on the other side with long blond hair, dressed in very fashionable attire.

" Hello again," the woman greeted, flashing a friendly smile and reaching out to shake Mom's hand.

" Um… hello…" Mom greeted back with uncertainty as she reached out to take the woman's hand.

" I'm Peterson," the woman replied. " Helena Peterson. We met at the supermarket the other day.

Mom's face flashed in recognition and brightened up. " Oh!" she exclaimed. " Oh, well then, yes, hello again." She laughed and so did Helena. " Would you like to come in?"

" A few minutes wouldn't hurt, I suppose. Thank you." Helena stepped through the door and for the first time I realized just how tall she was. The woman had to be over six feet, even if she wasn't wearing Stiletto heels, and she was stunningly beautiful! Her blond hair swept down to her very trim waist, her skin was the perfect shade of tan, her eyes were sea-green, and her smile was the pearliest, whitest one I'd ever seen.

" She's pretty enough to be a supermodel," Gemma whispered to me.

I nodded in agreement.

" These are my daughters: Artemis and Gemma," Mom pointed to each of us.

My sister and I both smiled and said hello.

Helena gave us a friendly grin and returned the greeting, then she suddenly turned. " Savannah, come on in," she called.

In response, a girl, who was maybe a year or so older than me, stepped inside our humble abode. Savannah was a gorgeous as her mother. Tall, slender, and lanky, the girl looked like she had the grace of a deer. She shared her mother's sparkling sea-green eyes and blond hair, except her hair was a bit more golden than flaxen and was slightly longer. Also unlike her mother who had straight hair, Savannah's was curled in such a way that if I had tried to do it to my own black mane it would've looked like a disaster, but on her looked amazing. She wore a white halter-top that showed off the glow from her tan skin and a black, ruffled mini-skirt over a pair of fancy wedges that showed off her perfectly pedicured toes. I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous that this girl had curves in all the right places while I, in many ways, was still waiting for normal body parts to arrive.

" Mother," the teenage beauty queen complained in a whiny voice that made me want to slap her senseless, " can't we just leave the pie and go home? I have things to do."

" In a minute, sweetheart," Helena answered in a sweet, loving voice.

" You brought a pie?" my own mother questioned.

" Yes," Helena answered with a smile. " Peach, to be precise. It's kind of a hobby of mine. Here," she pulled off the cloth that had been covering the pie, causing a mouth-watering aroma to whisk around the hall, and held the pie out to Mom, " welcome to the neighborhood."

Mom took it gratefully. " Well, thank you. I don't know what do say. Here, come with me. I'll put this in the 'fridge for right now and we can have some coffee." She turned and headed for the kitchen, Helena following right behind her, elaborating on how wonderful the idea sounded. Suddenly Mom stopped and turned. " Artemis, honey, why don't you take Savannah upstairs to see your rooms?"

Helena turned as well. " Yes, Savannah, run along upstairs. I'll call you when we're ready to go." Then she turned around to continue following Mom into the kitchen. " So what made you decide to move to Eddyville?" Helena asked.

" Well, you know, my great-grandmother actually used to live in this house so…" Mom's voice drifted off.

It was just the three of us left standing in the hallway. For the first time since she'd entered my home, Savannah took her eyes off her bejeweled smart-phone and looked both my sister and me up and down. Gemma only got a small glance while I got looked over once… twice… three times. Savannah's face twisted in utter disgust. I could almost bet that it was because of my hairstyle: a tight waterfall braid; and my clothes: fatigues, combat boots, suspenders that I allowed to hang loose, gauntlets and black choker, and a light green, single-short-sleeved belly-shirt over a dark green girl's-tank.

I gave her a return scowl, letting her know that I saw her judgement and I didn't take kindly to it. Something told me we weren't going to "buddy-buddy" or even "friendly acquaintances". I could feel Gemma's eyes flicking back and forth between Ms. Beauty Queen and me and knew that she could feel the tension in the room just as much as I could. I also knew that she wanted Savannah out of the house as soon as possible so it would go away—Gemma wasn't good with tension. And truthfully I agreed with her. The sooner this girl and her mother were off my turf the sooner I could get off defense mode and chill out. " I'm Artemis and this is my sister, Gemma," I introduced my sister and myself after a minute, my voice hardly friendly and the frown still screwing up my face.

" I'm Savannah," the girl replied back.

" So I guess I'm supposed to give you the upstairs tour of the house."

" So it would seem."

" Semper fi," I replied, still not dropping my glare. " Let's get 'er done then." And with that, I turned on my heel and marched off towards the stairway, Gemma darting in front of me and up the stairs first and Savannah bringing up the rear with her nose back to her phone. I couldn't help but feel that she was texting her "BFFs" about the incredibly fashion-senseless girl she'd just met.

* * *

" And this is my room," I said fifteen minutes later as we wrapped up the tour of the upstairs. I went to my door, opened it, and stepped inside before marching over to my bed and flopping down atop the spread. Gemma soon joined me and we sat there watching as Savannah looked around my organized (for now) quarters, inspecting everything carefully.

" Well, it's bigger than I thought it would be," she admitted after a minute. " I suspect you'll repaint the walls at some point?"

I cocked an eyebrow and looked at the walls of my room. Two were painted a forest green and the other two were jade green. After a moment I slightly smiled and shook my head. " Nope. It's gonna stay the way it is."

" Ew!" Savannah screeched in utter disgust. " You actually _**like**_ it?"

That scowl regained its grip on my face and I felt something like a low, rumbling growl, vibrate in my chest and throat. My temper rose a bit. " _What's it to you, bitch? It's my room not yours, so fuck off_" I wanted to snap, and was about to when my sister tugged the back of my shirt, shook her head, and made a censure hum. With that little reminder I managed to hold my tongue. " Yes, I like it," I replied, trying to keep my voice as smooth and calm as possible, which was no easy feat for me. " Green's my favorite color so it made perfect sense for the room that was already painted green to be my room."

" Ew!" Savannah lamented again. " _**Green**_ is your favorite color? That is so gross! Gag me with a spoon!"

" If only," I rumbled under my breath, receiving me a cautionary glance from Gemma. It was amazing really how my baby sister always ended up the mature one in these situations. I gave her a small smile, letting her know it was okay, then turned my attention back to Ms. America Junior, who was now going around the room inspecting my belongings. Every time she touched something of mine I growled to myself, feeling the desperate need to go over there and attack her for messing with my territory, but somehow managed to suppress it.

Finally after several long—and for me, agonizing—minutes, Savannah finally turned to me. " I noticed that you have an iPod charger, but no phone charger," she pointed out.

" That would be because I don't have a cell phone," I replied.

Savannah laughed. " You're kidding me right?"

I just kept staring at her, emotionless.

Eventually she stopped laughing. " You're not kidding," it was a statement, not a question.

I shrugged. " I don't really kid around much," I said by way of answer.

" But every kid has a phone," the blond remarked.

" Maybe they do. I don't."

" Me neither," Gemma added for good measure.

" Why?" Savannah asked.

" Well for one," I went on to explain, " Gemma's only nine, so she doesn't need a phone. As for me, maybe I'll get one for my fifteenth birthday here in a few weeks, but considering the way the economy is and stuff like that, probably not." I didn't want to mention the fact that with only one parent working and bringing in a very small income, we barely had just enough money to scrape by. Add that with the fact that we'd just moved and the bills from the time I'd stayed in the hospital to all the times Gemma had had to go in for her cancer—my sister had battled a rare form of leukemia until recently—we were in debt. " Besides," I added with yet another shrug, " it's not like I really need one. I have no friends or anything like that to text, so really, what's the point?"

" Um… internet?" Savannah suggested as if it was the most obvious reason to have a phone.

" Got internet and a computer downstairs," Gemma replied simply.

" You mean that dinosaur of a desktop?" the older girl queried, her face twisting in disgust again.

" It may be a dinosaur, but it still works well enough," I stated.

" Well, _**I **_have the newest version of the iPad as well as my _Droid_ and touch-screen iPod," Savannah bragged.

" Whoop-de-frickin'-doo for you," I said not-so-subtle sarcasm in my voice. I didn't like braggers, especially when the braggers were stuck up, spoiled, prissy, little rich girls like this one seemed to be. Come to think of it, I didn't like stuck up, spoiled, prissy, little rich girls period; whether they were braggers or not.

Savannah must have noticed my tone—which, of course, is exactly what was meant to happen—and just as I predicted, she didn't like it. Once again her face twisted up into an ugly frown and she gave me an icy glower. " Well, at least _**I**_ have manners when _**I**_ invite people over to _**my**_ house," she spat.

That's when I started to lose control of my temper, and nothing Gemma said was able to help me keep it. " All right, look here, sugar queen," I snarled, getting to my feet, cocking a hip out to the side, and crossing my arms over my chest. " First of all, I didn't _**invite **_you over to my house, you came with your mom and practically barged in. If I had my way you woulda been shown the door before you set foot on my sidewalk. Second, I have every right to be snippy with you 'cuz you insulted my home. And third, you are in _**my **_house, on _**my **_turf, and messin' with _**my **_territory. I will treat you however I damn well please, so fuck off!"

The girl glared at me, and I, of course, glared back. Gemma glanced nervously back and forth between the both of us, well aware that whatever was bound to happen now would be out of her control. I was pretty sure we were going to have a smack down right then and there, but suddenly the call came from downstairs.

" Savannah, time to go!" Helena's mellifluous voice carried up the stairs and down the hall.

" Coming, Mother!" Savannah called back. She turned back to me with one last evil look and then stormed out of the room.

I followed from a safe distance, only descending halfway down the stairs in order to say my good-byes to both mother and daughter. When they were both out of the house I hurried back upstairs to my room, ignoring Gemma, who was still seated on my bed, and ran to the window that faced the street. Pulling back the curtains I watched as Helena and Savannah made their way down the sidewalk to their car.

Before getting into the passenger seat, Savannah looked up one more time and saw me. Her face twisted into the angriest scowl I'd ever seen and gave me the finger. I flipped her off in turn and watched as they drove off down the street before sighing with relief, but even though I was happy that that encounter was over, I still had a pit in my stomach. I'd made an enemy out of Savannah Peterson; a dangerous one since I didn't know how much power she held. And, though I'd managed to survive this battle, something told me that this was just the beginning of the war.

* * *

" Looks like you made a new friend today," Gemma teased me as we carried up some more boxes into the attic later that day.

" Shut up," I snapped, but smiled at her just the same. Then I shook me head and snorted. " 'Gag me with a spoon,'" I quoted Savannah's earlier phrase when I'd told her green was my favorite color. " Wasn't that phrase from, like, the eighties? I mean seriously, even if they are a valley girl, who says that anymore?"

" Apparently she didn't get that memo," Gemma remarked with a giggle.

I laughed. Gemma was the only one who could ever make me laugh—_**really**_ laugh—anymore. " Apparently," I agreed. Balancing the box I carried on my knee I reached out with a hand and pushed open the door to the attic. " Okay, here we go," I grunted as I lifted my box up and slid it off to the side on the floor before pulling myself up into the dusty, brightly lit room. " All right, hand it up," I called, reaching down to take my sister's box. When I'd sat that off to the side I reached down and helped Gemma up. " I really hope these are the last boxes of stuff Mom decides we don't need out right away, 'cuz let me tell you, if I have to bring one more box up here I'm burnin' all this extra crap. I don't care what it is."

Gemma giggled again. " She has been making us bring a lot of shit up these stairs," she agreed.

" Whoa, hey!" I snapped, wagging a scolding finger at her and giving her dirty look. " No! You don't use words like that, you understand me, Gemma Madeline? You don't talk like that _**ever**_."

" But you talk like that all the time."

" I know, and I probably shouldn't, but that's the difference between you and me: I don't care, but you should. Don't try to be me, Gemma, you're better than that. I'm nothing you wanna be, bug-a-boo, trust me on that."

" You're a good big sister," Gemma pointed out innocently. " That's something I wanna be." She smiled in the sweet way that only she knows how.

I couldn't help but smile back. " And don't be a kiss-ass," I warned her playfully, tweaking her nose. " Now come on, let's get this shit put away."

With that we stood, picked up our respective boxes, and carried them to the back corner of the attic where we'd stored the others.

As I sat down my box I accidentally knocked the pile of quilts that Mom had brought up earlier in the week to the floor. Swearing under my breath, I bent down to pick them up and re-stack them and as I did I realized that a couple of the floorboards were lose. " Hmm," I hummed in consideration. I finished re-stacking the pile then turned my attention to the boards. Working my fingernails under one of the boards I lifted it up. There was a compartment underneath and there was something inside it! " Gem!" I called over my shoulder, motioning with a hand. " Check this out!"

Gemma quickly turned to see what was up. Her eyes lit up and widened with excitement. " Cool! It's like a false bottom or something, just like in _Nancy Drew_," those were her favorite books to read.

I pulled both boards up and set them off to the side before reaching down in the hole and grabbing the object. " It's a book," I stated when my fingers touched leather binding and paper. I lifted it out. " An old book," I commented again once I saw the pages were slightly yellowed with age. I studied it. If any of you have ever seen the movie _Princess Diaries_ that's what this book looked like, except instead of a red leather covering this one had a rich black leather covering and didn't have any sort of designs on it or a lock that was opened by a locket key. In fact there wasn't really any lock or clasp on it at all, just a stretchable cord that fastened around a small, silver button on the front cover. Slowly, I undid the cord and carefully opened the book. " It's a diary!" I exclaimed after seeing that the pages were blank. " And it's never been written in."

" Who do you think it belonged to?" Gemma asked.

" I'll bet this was Great-Great-Gammy Crystal's diary," I answered. I'd been named for our great-great-grandmother, a woman Mom had been very close to when she was a little girl. " Mom always said that she used to love to write."

" Just like you," Gemma concluded with a smile.

" Yeah, just like me," I agreed softly. I flipped through the pages, amazed out how crisp they were even in their old age.

Gemma turned her attention back to the hole. " Hey, look," she said after a minute. Reaching down she pulled back out an old yellow envelope and opened it. " It's a note. Here." She handed it to me.

Setting the diary off to the side, I took the paper and started to read the fine, small penmanship of our great-great-grandmother.

* * *

_To whomever it may concern,_

_I have lived a long, full life; had many adventures. And during my time on this planet I have come to find that to those who find themselves alone there is no greater or more trustworthy friend than a diary. My own journal itself holds my deepest and darkest secrets more faithfully and knows me better than anyone ever could. In the twilight years of my life I pass this knowledge on and purchase this diary for you. Fill it with stories and tales of your dreams and adventures, that way you will always have a way to look back on the past and put your life into perspective when you reach my age._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Crystal_

_P.S. Another piece of advice—it's one of my mottoes in life: Love those you trust with all your heart, because it is better to feel pain than nothing at all. Trust those you love completely and wholly, because it is truly a rare gift to find. And always keep faith and hope, because no matter they trial, they get you through._

* * *

Once I finished reading it to myself, I read it for Gemma, leaving off the P.S. part because I was almost sure that had been written specifically for me though it was almost too unbelievable to imagine.

When I was done Gemma looked at me with a grin. " Well," she chirped happily, patting me on the shoulder, " looks like you got yourself a new diary, sis." Then she stood and started back towards the stairs.

" Yeah," I replied over my shoulder. Looking back at the letter, I reread the P.S. trying to ignore the chills that ran up my spine. It just had to have been written for me! " Yeah," I repeated to myself, " looks like I do." I folded the letter, stuck it back in the envelope, and tucked it into the diary before closing it and redoing the cord. A small smile pulled up a corner of my mouth. " Thanks, Gammy. It means more than you know."


	7. Call of the Shard

**Thanks to everyone who's commented and favorited and followed and everything. Like always, you guys make this all the more enjoyable with you amazing feedback. I'm glad you all enjoy it. :) HUGS TO EVERYONE!**

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Open your heart… I am calling you. Right from the very start… your wounded heart was calling too. Open you arms… you will find the answer when you answer to… the call…" Celtic Woman; _The Call_

5

Call of the Shard

_Dear Diary,_

_Since this is my first journal entry I should probably start off by introducing myself. My name is Crystal Artemis Savage—but I prefer to be called by my middle name. I'm fourteen-almost-fifteen years old and am nearly five-foot-three-inches in stature. I have hazel-green eyes, wear glasses, and have long black hair that falls to the middle of my back. Unfortunately my hair is the kind that never likes to do what I tell it, so I have to keep it braided back. As for my heritage, you could say that I'm kind of a mutt. My mother, Shannon Tantaros-Savage, is half-Greek and my father, Michael Savage—wherever the hell he might be—was Italian. I have a nine-year-old sister named Gemma and I'm closer to her than I am to anyone else in this entire, crazy, FUBAR world, but maybe that's a story for another time._

_I'm not like other kids. I'm a loner, and keep very little company. I like just about every type of music there is except reggae, rap, screamo, and anything that's done by Justin Beiber (blech!). I also like to read, write, and draw as well as sing and dance. I can play the violin and piano and when I was younger I used to enjoy ice-skating._

_As for some random facts about me: my favorite color is green and my favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs. The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical—even if I despise the ending—and my favorite movie is Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. My favorite book is anything that has a good story-line to it as well as action and adventure. Though I love animals, my favorite is a horse and I'm absolutely scared to death of frogs. Don't know why, I just am. As for my motto in life... I guess I really don't have one, though I did recently read one that went like something this: 'Love those you trust with all your heart, because it is better to feel pain than nothing at all. Trust those you love completely and wholly, because it is truly a rare gift to find. And always keep faith and hope because no matter the trial, they get you through.' I suppose it makes sense, and maybe I should try to make it my motto. Not sure yet..._

* * *

Pushing up my glasses, I looked up from my writing to Gemma who had called out my name from across the playground. A day had passed since my encounter with Savannah Peterson and I'd been stalking around the house like a territorial alpha wolf—as my mother put it—ever since. I guess that was just yet another inexplicable part of my nature. So Mom had urged—actually it ended up more like an order—me to take Gemma to the local park to get some fresh air. After much reluctance and one of Gemma's famous puppy-dog looks, I'd agreed. So, after gathering up my new diary and a pen, my sister and I had set out on a quest to investigate the new park. It was a nice little place actually; located near the edge of the town next to the woods. It had a small water park, a picnic area, a playground—as I've already mentioned—a small camping area, and biking and hiking trails. Being next to the woods it had plenty of trees for shade and stayed surprisingly cool in the hot summer sun.

But getting back to the topic at hand, as I said before, Gemma had called me and gotten my attention. " Yeah, Gem?" I called back from my spot beneath the park's weeping willow tree—the tree for which it was named I'm sure.

" Can you come out and push me?" my sister called back from the swing-set across the way.

I sighed heavily. The swing-set was a good fifteen yards away, and though it was shaded by a couple of huge oak trees, there was still a decent sized patch of hot sun that I'd have to walk through in order to reach it, and I wasn't really one for the heat. Besides, I was feeling really lazy today. " Do you really need to be pushed?" I asked.

" Well, no," Gemma admitted as she continued to swing. " Not really. But it'd be a lot more fun if you pushed me. After all, you push really hard and fast and I go higher."

I tilted my head and assessed the situation. Gemma did like it when I pushed her on the swing—even if she was old enough to be able to pump herself—and truthfully I enjoyed it too. But the fact remained of the sun and heat and I was sweating enough as it was. " Mmm, I dunno…"

" Please?" Gemma begged. " Pretty please with sugar on top and molasses on the bottom?"

I grinned and laughed. " Okay," I finally gave in. " I'll come and push you." With that I put my pen in my diary, closed it, hooked the loop back around the button, and stood up. I made my way across to the swing-set, got around behind Gemma—who had since stopped swinging—and started to push her. After just about four pushes Gemma was flying high and fast and we were both laughing hard. It was fun to just unwind and let loose sometimes.

After a few minutes Gemma told me that she was high enough and it was okay if I stopped pushing, so I told her we'd be leaving in about half and hour and went back to my spot beneath the willow tree across the way to continue writing. I froze mid-stride. My diary… it was gone! My heart racing, I went into a frenzy and began searching the area frantically. I did just about everything but take an ax to the tree, and I was in such a panic I probably would've done that too if an ax had been anywhere nearby. I searched through every nook and cranny of the tree, climbed up into the tree, searched through every patch of tall grass, but it was nowhere to be found. Where was it?! Where the hell was it?! I was in such tizzy that I didn't hear or notice anyone standing behind me until they touched my shoulder.

" Excuse me," a voice said as a hand gently gripped my shoulder.

Startled, I whipped around ready for anything… or so I thought.

The owner of the voice and the hand was a boy of about seventeen with medium brown hair that was slightly spiked and sparkling blue-gray eyes. He was a little over six-feet tall and was muscular—not excessively muscular but muscular enough to be considered ripped. He wore a style of jeans that was typical of teenage boys to wear, a maroon muscle shirt, and a pair of DC shoes. His jaw and chin had slight stubble and… well… the best way I can describe him all 'round is that he could've won a Liam Hemsworth look-alike contest—so yeah, he was pretty damn hot.

My face felt hot and I knew I had to be blushing terribly. That thought just made the blush worse.

The boy gave me a smile that could've melted the polar ice caps and released a chuckle that made my heart do flip-flops and my stomach tickle with butterflies. " You can put your fists down and relax, you know," he chuckled in a voice that was surprisingly deep and smooth for someone of his age. " I'm not gonna hurt you."

That's when I remembered that I was in a fighting stance and slowly slid in a poorly attempted relaxed posture with my arms crossed over my practically non-existent chest. Not for the first time I cursed my body's obstinate resistance towards some forms of normal puberty and exuberant acceptance of others (yeah, girls, you all know what I'm talking about). I cleared my throat and my mouth suddenly went dry. " S-sorry," I managed to stammer. I looked up at him and quickly looked back down, unable to keep eye contact.

" It's okay," he assured me. " I'm Bryce by the way." He held his hand out.

" Artemis," I introduced myself as I took his hand and shook it. The action of touching his hand caused my heart to feel like it was going to burst out of my chest and a happy shiver to run down my spine. My blush became even hotter. I quickly released his hand and averted my eyes back to the ground.

Bryce didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't care because he continued to smile at me. " 'Artemis'," he repeated my name, " that's a pretty cool name."

I quickly looked back up at him to see if he was joking—it wasn't the first time that someone had made a crack about my name—but he wasn't joking. A slight smile tugged at my lips. " Thanks," I giggled. " _Holy crap, he's cute!_" I thought to myself for about the hundredth time, using everything I had within me to keep from blurting it out. " 'Bryce' i-is a…" I cleared my throat, "… a p-p-pretty cuel… uh, cool," I quickly corrected myself, " name too." Once again I silently cursed myself out. Damn! Why did I always get so tongue-tied around cute guys?

A silence fell between us and during that silence I watched as Bryce looked me over carefully. It was nearly impossible to read what he was thinking because he kept that same pleasant smile on his face the entire time, but I could just about bet he didn't like what he saw; and who could blame him? As far as looks went, mine weren't all that desirable.

Suddenly Bryce seemed to suddenly remember something. " Oh," he said, clearing his throat. " I'm sorry, I completely forgot why I came over here." As I pondered over whether that was a good thing or a bad thing—I was just about clueless when it came to guys and being a girl who wasn't boy-crazy didn't seem to help matters—Bryce held out a thick, black leather bound book that I hadn't even realized he was holding. " Is this yours?" he questioned.

" My diary!" I gasped. I quickly snatched it away from him and held it close to me as if it were the most precious thing in the world—which to me it was. Looking it over I determined that it had sustained no damage, but still held it protectively. " I've been looking everywhere for this!"

" Yeah, my little brother must've wandered over here and found it because he brought it to me." Suddenly Bryce snorted. " You shoulda seen the look on his face. You coulda sworn that he'd found the key to El Dorado or something. Sorry for causing you the grief."

I gave him a small smile. In all the towns and communities I'd moved to, no one I'd ever met had ever been this nice to me upon first meeting me… and a lot of the time even after. " It's okay," I assured him. " I've got a little sister myself so I know what it's like." Suddenly I became a little suspicious. " You didn't open…"

" No," Bryce quickly shot down the question. " Nope, I didn't and he didn't either. Well, he probably would have if I hadn't taken it from him—the whole nosy little kid thing, ya know. But I know a little thing or two about privacy and when I asked him where he'd found it and I saw you looking over here I knew it had to be yours."

" Thanks," I replied with a smile, admiring him for being honest, when most guys I'd met would've taken the chance to read my journal… not that there was a whole lot in it yet. " So what's your brother's name?"

" James," Bryce answered, " but we all call him 'Jimmy'. He just turned ten. What about your sister?"

" Gemma," I replied. " She's nine, but if you ask her she's nine-and-a-quarter."

Bryce laughed and nodded, obviously understanding completely what I meant. " You close to her?"

" Closer that I have ever been to anybody in my entire life," I confessed. " Sometimes it seems like we're a little too close. Not often but sometimes. What about you and Jimmy?"

" Not quite as close as you and Gemma," he answered with a shake of his head. " After he was born I didn't spend much time with him because, well for one, he was a baby and what seven-year-old boy wants to deal with that? And two, around that time I was doing little league baseball, and soccer, and pee-wee football so we just never really got to know each other. The divorce of our parents a couple years ago sorta brought us closer together though—the whole world being torn apart thing—but now he's getting into that pre-teen age and he's starting to get really annoying, so we're back to our old selves again."

" I never really had much of a chance to push Gemma off to the side like that, despite the age difference," I remarked with an understanding nod. " Our parents were always fighting even after she was born so I was the one who had to look out for her and vice-versa."

" Your parents divorced?"

" Mm, more like Mom finally did something that made Dad take his walking papers. I was only ten when he left, haven't seen him since."

" I'm sorry," Bryce replied softly.

I shrugged as if it was no big deal. " It's okay. I'm used to it now… if you can ever get used to something like that, that is." Suddenly I realized something. I was having a conversation! An actual heart to heart conversation with somebody without sarcasm or condescension or anything that I normally used when talking to somebody. " _Wow_," I thought to myself and grinned, fairly proud of myself. My happiness was quickly squashed however when all of a sudden I came face to face with my sworn enemy: Savannah Peterson.

Almost coming out of nowhere, the golden-haired beauty sidled up alongside Bryce and slipped her arm through his. " Bryce," she purred her melodious voice grating at every nerve in my body, " what's taking you so long? I thought you were going to come right back. I've missed you." Her eyes came to me and her face took on a twisted and conniving sneer.

I gave her an evil eye in return.

" Sorry, babe," Bryce replied, making my heart and spirits plummet even lower than they already had, " I got caught up in a conversation here. Savannah this is…"

" Artemis Savage," the girl interrupted still eyeing me coldly. " Yes, I know. We've already met. Artemis," she greeted me politely, something I'm sure she would never have done without her boyfriend standing there.

" Savannah," I said courteously back with a nod of my head.

Bryce looked back and forth between us with confusion. " How did you two…"

" She and her mom came over to my house with a house-warming present," I answered before he could finish, without looking away from his girlfriend. Then I said to Savannah, " By the way, would you tell your mom thanks for the pie? It was delicious." Not a lie; the pie had actually been one of the best peach pies I'd ever had.

" I'll be sure to tell her," Savannah replied, and I could tell that she too was telling the truth. Then all of a sudden she seized Bryce's head in her hands and pulled him into an overly deep, overly passionate kiss.

" Ew," I muttered and looked away from their make-out session, unable to ignore the slight jealousy in my heart. Of course a guy like him would belong to a girl like her. That's always how it was. I groaned in disgust at the sound of their moaning as they continued to kiss.

After an eternity they pulled apart. Savannah rested her head on Bryce's chest and traced over his muscles with a perfectly manicured delicate finger. " Come back to the party, baby," she pouted. " It's no fun without you."

Much to my dismay Bryce took her hand, raised it to his lips, and gently kissed her fingers. Then he cupped her cheek. " Sure thing, babe," he whispered back. He put his arm around her waist and they both turned to walk away. Looking back over his shoulder, Bryce waved. " See ya, Artemis," he bade me goodbye. " Nice meeting you."

Despite my disappointment and envy I managed to force a polite smile on my face and wave back. " Yeah, you too, Bryce. See ya around."

Suddenly Savannah turned back too with another wicked smile curving up her lips. " Oh, and by the way, Arty," she hissed poignantly, " it looks like you have a little dirt on your chest or something. You might wanna wash it off." She was talking about the birthmark on the left flat of my chest.

It took all I had not to sneer dangerously at Savannah, but somehow I managed it. Still smiling, I said, " It's a birthmark, but thanks for the advice. Nice to see you again, Savannah."

The bitch just glowered at me and turned away and I couldn't help but be happy with myself for pissing her off, but my smile and happiness quickly dropped as Bryce turned away. I sighed heavily as I watched him make his way back to his friends, his arm still around Savannah. I continued to gaze after them until I felt a tug on my hand. Looking down, I was met with Gemma's quizzical expression.

" Who was that?" she asked.

" His name's Bryce," I answered looking back off in the direction the couple had gone.

" And he is?" Gemma's voice came back, and from the sound in her voice, I could tell she knew that I liked Bryce.

" Taken," I muttered gloomily, knowing that I would never have a shot with Bryce. After all, who in their right mind would take a girl who looked like me over a girl who looked like Savannah Peterson? I was doomed to die an old maid: old, alone, and bitter—and I already had the "alone" and "bitter" parts down. Sighing once again, I put my arm around my sister's shoulders and started to lead her off. " Come on. We better get home."

We were just about ready to exit the park when all of a sudden something caught my eye. Looking up into the clear blue sky, I saw a flash of fire and then smoke. " Gem, look!" I cried out, pointing to the object.

Immediately Gemma's head shot up and her eyes widened in both awe and alarm. " What is that thing?"

I shook my head. " I-I dunno. It… it looks like a meteor or something. Damn, look at how fast it's moving!"

The meteor shot through the sky and just a second later a thunderous boom shook the earth and everything around us, knocking us off our feet. Windows shattered, car alarms went off, dogs started barking, birds screamed, and people cried out in panic. It was the craziest, scariest, and most amazing thing ever!

After a moment, I pushed myself up off the ground and shook my thoughts back into place. " Shit," I muttered to myself, rubbing my hip. There was going to be a bruise there in the morning. I turned my attention to my sister who was lying in a heap beside me. " Gem?" I said, reaching over and shaking her shoulder. " Gem, you okay?"

Groaning, Gemma opened her eyes and started to sit up. " Mm… yeah," she answered rubbing her head, " I-I think so. What was that?"

" The meteor," I answered, looking back up to the sky where the smoke trail was still lingering. My eyes followed it across the sky and back into the park where it disappeared over the tops of the trees, and that's when I knew that the meteor had landed and where it was. I don't know how I knew, but I did. And what's more… I wanted—in fact, felt like I had—to go find it. Standing up I brushed myself off, then reached down, grabbed my sister's wrist, and pulled her to her feet. " Come on," I told her, pulling her along in the direction of the trees. " Let's go find that thing!"

Gemma yanked out of my grip. " Are you crazy?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. " We don't even know what that thing is let alone where it came from!"

I shot her a cynical look. " It's a frickin' meteor," I stated. " It came from outer space."

" Exactly!" Gemma exclaimed. " For all we know it could have some sort of diseases on it!" Her eyes became even wider and she gasped. " It could have some sort of alien "spoons" on it!"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. " It's _**spores**_," I corrected her. " It's alien _**spores**_. And there are no such things as aliens. Now stop being a 'fraidy cat and come on!" I reached out to snag her arm again but she backed away.

" No!" she said defiantly. " No! I'm not going and you can't make me!"

I gave her an annoyed look and then shrugged. " Okay, fine," I conceded, " I'll just go myself. Can only imagine the look on Mom's face when she finds out I got disintegrated." And with that I spun on my heel and sprinted off in the direction the meteor had gone. Was I stupid for running off to investigate an object from outer space? Yes. Did I really care? No. All I wanted was to find that meteor. It almost seemed like I was being beckoned to it.

* * *

I don't really know how long or far I ran: time and distance just sort of seemed to lump together and slip to the wayside. All I knew is that it seemed to take forever to get to the crash site, and once I did I couldn't believe what I saw. Standing at the edge of the crater, I looked down and gasped.

About ten or so feet below me wasn't a meteor but a… I don't even know what the hell it was! It wasn't rock, it was metal; and it was smooth and in a perfect oval shape rather than rough and craggy. Even in the shade of the trees it glowed a strange silvery-blue light like a star, and what I had first thought was smoke was actually steam rising off of it.

My heart pounded in my ears and my stomach twisted into a series of tight knots. All of a sudden I began to wonder if what I had said about aliens not being real was true. Despite my fear, I still felt like the… pod… was calling me, and that urge to listen was stronger than any horror and uncertainty I felt. Carefully, I crawled over the edge of the crater and slid down the side. When I reached the bottom the pod was only four feet away from me. Now I could actually hear a sound coming from it: a single high-pitched, beautiful, harmonious note. I could also see that the surface of the pod was not completely smooth and that there were thousands of strange hieroglyphics sketched across it that glowed a dimmer darker blue than the silvery-blue light I had seen up on the edge. Suddenly my eyes found a symbol on the pod that looked exactly like my birthmark: a three and a lowercase H that were underlined with the line having four tails coming off the bottom. Slowly I stood and took a step forward, eyes glued to the symbol. Stopping just in front of the pod, I reached out with a trembling hand and ever so lightly touched the mark.

At the exact same moment the pod hissed open and, with a strange whirring and clanking noise, it folded back and transformed into a pedestal. The silver-blue light was now a vertical beam of energy rising out of the top of the pedestal and suspended in the light was a shard. The shard was metal and was a dark gray almost black color, like it had been scorched. The same symbols that had marked the surface of the pod were sketched on the shard too, and glowed.

That clear ringing pitch that I had heard coming from the pod before had now increased in volume and was pressing in on my eardrums, making it feel like they were going to burst with the pressure, but I didn't turn away. I continued to simply stare at the shard.

" _Touch the shard…_" a sudden voice whispered in my head.

I hesitated.

" _Touch the shard…_" it repeated.

That time I slowly obeyed. Lifting up a hand, I began to reach out towards the shard. I was almost grabbing it when suddenly a scream caught my attention.

" Artemis, no!"

Jerking my hand back, I jumped and looked up to the top of the crater to see Gemma standing there, staring at me in horror. She must have followed me.

" _Touch the shard_," the voice returned, except this time it was more firm and it didn't whisper.

I turned back to the shard and began to reach for it again.

" Artemis, no!" Gemma wailed again.

" _Touch the shard._"

" I'm sorry, Gemma," I said.

" Don't touch it! You don't know what'll happen!"  
" _Touch the shard._"

" You can't!"

" I have to."

" _Touch the shard!_"

I seized hold of the shard. Immediate, excruciating, searing pain ripped up my arm and through my body. My head snapped back and my mouth opened in a scream of agony but no sound came out. My muscles spasmed and my hair snapped free of its braid and flowed around me. The symbols that had once marked the shard now marked my body and glowed with the silvery-blue light.

Thousands of ages of history, knowledge, and information flashed before my eyes and were seared into my brain in a matter of seconds before the shard crumbled to dust and fell from my hand. Suddenly the pedestal exploded into a blinding flash of bright blue light and I was blown back against the side of the crater where I went limp. Everything began to fade into darkness. The last thing I remember was the picture of a tall magnificent being of machine, decorated in blue and red flamed armor with pristine blue eyes that pierced into my soul and my birthmark upon his cheeks.

* * *

Diego Garcia;

Optimus stood out on the beach, the cool water lapping at his pads. As he so often did nowadays, he gazed off into the horizon, a cold, hard, distant expression shadowing his faceplates. A week and a day had passed since the anniversary, and just like always each day since then had gotten worse and worse and worse. Prime could feel the darkness taking over more of his spark each day. He didn't want it to happen, he didn't want to give in to it, but he didn't know how to fight it. As for that "second chance" that he was so sure had to have been out there for him somewhere, he was now pretty convinced that that had been wishful thinking plain and simple. He didn't get a second chance; he'd just been sent back for kicks. As far as he was concerned anymore, Primus was one sick twisted son of a glitch.

The rest of the Autobots were watching the figure of their solitary commander from inside their hangar home.

" What's with Prime?" Chromia questioned from her position in Ironhide's lap.

'Hide looked at his spark-mate, then looked off through the doors in the direction of the lonely Prime. After a minute, he shrugged. " Beats me," he replied. Then he studied Optimus a bit harder for a moment. " However, something has seemed to have been eating at him for a while."

The whole group fell silent as they stared at their commander.

" He's definitely quiet today," Ratchet agreed.

" A _**lot **_more than usual," Arcee put in, reminding everybody that since his revival, Optimus had not been the 'Bot he once was.

" Maybe somebody should talk to him," Bumblebee suggested with a comment through his radio.

" Don't look at us!" Skids and Mudflaps immediately spoke in unison. They jumped to their pads and held their arms out in front of them as if to ward of conflict. " He'd bust our asses if we tried!"

" Don't worry, you two," Chromia put the twins at ease. " You won't talk to him. Ironhide will."

" What?!" the black armored mech screeched.

" You've known him longest, 'Hide," Ratchet pointed out, a smirk coming over his lipplates.

" So?!" 'Hide demanded.

" So, it'll be easier for you to connect with him," Ratchet explained.

Ironhide was a complete loss for words. He opened his mouth to try and protest, but nothing came out, so he just sat there with his jaw dropped and head shaking. Finally after a minute he found his voice. " Oh, no!" he barked. " Not happenin'!"

That's when Chromia cuddled into his neck, causing him to stop and look at her. " Please, sweet-spark?" she begged in baby talk. " Please can't you do it…" she looked up into his optics, "… for me."

Ironhide stared at her wordlessly, but a pleasured shiver ran through his chassis and she pressed her smooth curving, femme frame into his rough, bulky, mech one.

" Please?" 'Mia asked again. " It would make me so happy." Then she raised her head and ran her lips along his neck as she brought her mouth closer to his audio-receptor. " And maybe, just maybe I'll give you a little present tonight for it," she purred seductively, her lipplates slightly tickling his audio-receptor.

Ironhide shivered again and closed his eyes in a dreamy way. Unintentionally, his mind slipped away to their room. He could almost feel his hands running up and down her soft curves. He could almost see them lying upon their berth, becoming one machine as they…

" So what'd'ya say, 'Hide?" Flareup questioned.

Ironhide snapped out of his daydream. " Hell, no!" he bellowed again, remembering the situation at hand. " No way in pit am I tryin' to get inside that thick head of his!"

Suddenly Chromia dropped her flirty sultry femme act and slipped into her battlefield persona. She seized hold of 'Hide's chest-armor and jerked him so their faces were mere micrometers apart. " Ironhide," she snarled, " you are going to talk to him or else you won't be getting anything tonight or any other night for a long time!"

" But…"

" And if you say 'but' one more time, I'm going to rip off your interface rod so you won't be able to get anything ever again!"

'Hide's eyes widened in fear and disbelief. He opened his mouth again, but once he saw the deadly look on his spark-mate's faceplate he closed it. Then he looked at Optimus and back to the group.

They all turned away.

Taking one last look back at the Prime, the weapons specialist snarled and spoke some choice words in Cybertronian before slipping out from under Chromia, standing, and sulking his way out of the hangar, across the tarmac, down the beach, and over to Prime.

" Ironhide," the Prime greeted the approaching mech without even turning around.

'Hide suddenly trembled. It gave him the creeps whenever Optimus did that, almost like the Prime had optics in the back of his head. He pushed aside his heebie-jeebies. " Prime," he greeted back, stopping beside his commander and staring off into the distance for moment. Then slowly, he looked at Optimus.

" What seems to be the trouble?" the blue and red flamed Autobot questioned, still not looking at the black mech.

Ironhide suddenly looked down to the ground and began to rub the back of his head awkwardly. " Nothin' really," he replied. " It's just that… well…"

" Yes?"

" Well, it's just that, you may not know it Prime, but you haven't been actin' yourself for quite some time."

" Is that so?"

" Yeah, and, uh, we're all getting kinda worried 'bout ya."

Optimus was silent for a moment, running this information over in his processor. Then he shook his head. " You needn't be worried, Ironhide," he said. " I am perfectly fine." He knew 'Hide was right, but he didn't want to—in fact, couldn't—admit to it.

'Hide gave an awkward chuckle. " See, uh, that's the problem there, Prime. You're not fine."

" How am I not fine?" Optimus' voice sounded clipped with strained patience.

" Well…" 'Hide drew out the word, "… it's just that, ever since Sam brought you back, you've been a little different. And lately, you've been becoming even more reclusive and quiet than usual."

" Ironhide," Optimus scoffed, " you know as well as anyone that I am not a social or talkative 'Bot. I prefer to be off by myself."

" Yeah, that's true," the other mech agreed, " but it's never been to this extent. You're constantly locked in your quarters. You hardly ever come out, and when you do, you don't talk to anybody at all. And half the time when you do you're always yellin' at 'em for something. We're just all worried about you," 'Hide went on.

Just then Optimus turned on the mech. All thirty-six feet of him shifted and glared down on Ironhide's twenty-seven feet with a merciless expression. " Ironhide, are you trying to tell me that I am not fit to command this team any longer?" he snarled.

" No!" 'Hide answered quickly. " Of course not. I'm just sayin'…"

" I will have you know, old friend, that I am the very same mech I was the day we first arrived on this planet. I have not changed a bit and I most certainly have control over my emotions!"

'Hide was speechless. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder up to the hangar at their audience, and then he looked back into the snarling face of his commander. Oh, he was going to get his aft torn apart! Taking a small step back, he hoped to slip away.

But Optimus stayed with him. " Perhaps, if you and the others have a problem with my attitude as of late, you should take a course in improving your own, because—and I repeat—I have not changed a day since we came here! And you, Ironhide, can take that to the bank!"

" Right, Prime," Ironhide agreed.

" And I'll tell you something else. I…" suddenly Optimus dropped off as something across the water drew his attention. He turned his head to look.

At first, the light was very dim, hardly noticeable. Then it began to get brighter and brighter until it was so bright it outshone the sun. The pristine blue light hung in the air for a minute, illuminating the atmosphere. Then it was gone as quickly as it had come.

By now, all Autobots had sprinted down the beach and gathered at the side of their commander. They all stared off in the direction of the light.

An eerie silence fell over the island, with nothing but the gentle lapping of the waves against the sand and the pads of the aliens.

" Wh-what was that?" Sideswipe barely breathed after a minute.

Optimus was silent for a moment. There was only one thing he had ever seen that could make that type of light. But it was nearly impossible. The only piece left of it was now within the chest of Megatron after it had been used to spark him back to life. The other had been destroyed along with the Fallen. There couldn't possibly be a third… could there? " The AllSpark," Prime answered quietly. " It was a shard of the All… augh!" Optimus suddenly doubled over, arms wrapped around himself, faceplates twisted and pinched in obvious discomfort. Sharp, shooting, burning pain pulsed through his systems like a tidal wave with every beat of his spark. Groaning, the Prime sank to his knees in the sand.

The rest of the team looked on in horror.

Ratchet stepped forward and put a hand on his old friend's shoulder. " Prime? Prime are you…" and then suddenly Ratchet too was falling to the ground in pain, clutching at his head.

Soon all of the others were joining them, all of their bodies and ligaments feeling like they were on fire. The pain grew so intense that soon they were passing out from it.

It wasn't minutes before Optimus was the only one conscious, and even then, just barely. As he faded into blackness an image of a young human girl flashed through his mind. She was about fourteen or fifteen, had beautiful hazel-green eyes that could look straight through him, and ebony hair that was streaked with silver, red, and blue. Upon her chest was the mark of the Primes.


	8. Changes

**I hope you all get a chuckle out of this chapter, because I know I did when I wrote it. XDD**

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

** " I'm feelin' it. **I'm feelin' a change. I'm feelin' it... in the air..." Morgan Page; _In The Air_

6

Changes

Eddyville, Montana;

_I am barefoot running on a beach, the sun warm on my skin, the waves lapping at my ankles. I am wearing a strapless, flowing silver gown embroidered with shining blue symbols and my hair is blowing free, streaming out behind me like a black banner streaked with silver, blue, and red. I'm laughing; for the first time in years I feel… happy. I feel love and feel loved in return. Holding my arms out to the sides, I perform several joyous pirouettes. _

_ Suddenly I feel myself cast in shadow. Opening my eyes, I look up above and meet the piercing sapphire blue optics of a red and blue flamed being of machine. I recognize him from my vision. He smiles lovingly down at me and I in turn smile warmly up at him. My feelings of happiness and love grow stronger. Before I know it, I'm sprinting towards him, arms flung open. _

_ His smile turns into a delighted grin and he kneels down, arms held open as well. His hands close in around me as he swoops me up into the air and spins me above his head. We both laugh blissfully. Then he lowers me and holds me in a deep hug against the windshields that make up his broad chest. _

_ I wrap my arms as far as they can go around his neck and burrow into the warm metal of his chest. My entire being feels warm. I could stay like this forever._

_ After a moment he kneels down and sets me on the ground in front of him. He smiles down at me and holds a massive silver finger beneath my chin as he raises my face to his. But suddenly his smile fades away and he looks rather sad and serious. " Artemis," he says deep voice rolling like thunder._

_ " Yes?" I say back._

_ " Artemis," he repeats, " you have to wake up now."_

_ " But I don't want to," I proclaim. I take a hold of his digit and hold it tightly. " I want to stay with you. Please, let me stay with you. Please."_

_ " Wake up, Artemis," He reiterates, except this time I can hear my sister's voice mixed in with his. He starts to fade away._

_ " Wait!" I cry, reaching out for him._

_ " Artemis, wake up." Gemma's is the only voice I can hear now. " Wake up, Artemis. Please, wake up."_

_ Everything fades away._

* * *

Releasing a groan, I started to come to. Holy shit, my head hurt! The best way I can describe it is that it felt like somebody was drilling into my temples at the same exact time someone was using a jackhammer on my skull. When I opened my eyes the sunlight didn't help either. Suddenly a blurry face appeared before me. Blinking several times to get my eyes in focus, I was finally able to identify the face. " Ge-Gemma?" I croaked, my mouth dry and throat incredibly raw.

My little sister released a relieved sigh and tears leapt to her brown eyes. " Oh, Artemis!" she cried. " Thank goodness you're okay!" She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed hard.

Every part of my throbbing body screamed and recoiled at the contact. " Gem!" I exclaimed. " Gem! Please, let go! Let go; it hurts!"

But Gemma was so relieved that I was okay that she didn't seem to hear me. She held me tighter.

It was then that it wasn't just that my body hurt, but I couldn't breath. " Gemma…" I gasped after a moment, "… brain… oxygen… everything going dark."

" Oh!" Gemma quickly let me go. " Sorry," she squeaked with a grimace.

Coughing and gasping for air, I rubbed my neck. " Damn it, girl!" I rasped. " You got one hell of a death grip!"  
" Sorry," my little sis repeated.

When I was breathing normally, I noticed that my body—well, save my neck—didn't hurt anymore. " _Weird_," I thought to myself. I got to my feet. Looking around, I saw we were still in the crater and down in the center where the pod and then pedestal had been was a pile of silver dust. All of a sudden I recalled the shard and what had occurred when I'd touched it. I remembered how my skin had glowed with the strange hieroglyphics. Raising my hands, I looked at my arms to see if they were still there. Nothing. Not even a hint of them—well, except for the symbol on my chest of course. Whoa, wait, my chest! Holy crap, I _**had**_ a chest! For once I actually had cleavage showing! I mean before I blacked out I was all but chestless and now I had a frickin' pair of junior hooters! How the hell had that happened?

That thought brought another to my mind. If I had breasts did that mean…? Curious, I placed my hands on either side of my ribcage and ran them down my sides. I expected to feel a slight curve of my waist like normal, but instead I felt a very drastic one: the classic hourglass curve. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped slightly. Damn, I knew puberty caused a lot of weird, radical changes, but none of them could happen this quickly. Although, despite how freaked I was, I couldn't say I didn't like it. For so long I had been wanting my looks to improve and now they had. I mean I wasn't a super-model by any means, but I finally had something. I felt a surge of excitement rise up inside once I thought about Bryce and how I might actually have a shot with him. But then I remembered that he was Savannah's and no matter how my looks had been altered I still wasn't as pretty as she was. Still I couldn't help but be a little bit happy about that too because I didn't want to look like that bitch, no matter how drop dead gorgeous she was.

Suddenly I felt Gemma's eyes on me. I looked down at her to see that she was staring at me with wide, awestruck eyes. I smirked at her and put my hands on me hips. " What'cha lookin' at me like that for?" I asked playfully.

" Artemis…" she breathed, slightly smiling, "… your hair."

" What about it?"

" It's got… highlights."

" Say what?"

" Highlights. Your hair has red, blue, and silver highlights!"  
" Tsh, you're lying," I snorted, though I had to admit it'd be pretty stinkin' cool if I did have highlights like that.

" No I'm not," Gemma insisted. She reached out and grabbed my near-waist-long hair and held it out for me to see. " Look!" she pointed.

Sure enough there was a single strip of highlighted hair with the exact colors Gemma had mentioned. The red and blue were in wide strips and were outlined by thinner strips of silver. " This is too weird," I gulped. That's when I noticed my glasses lying on the ground by my feet. I quirked up an eyebrow. Wait, if I wasn't wearing my glasses right now, how could I see clearly instead of having everything around me be one big blurry blob like was normal when I wasn't wearing my glasses? My stomach tied itself into an even tighter knot as I slowly reached down and retrieved the glasses. Carefully, I held them up to my eyes and looked through the lenses. Everything looked wonky and warped and the image hurt my eyes. That didn't even make sense! I was seeing ten time better than I ever had before, even _**with**_ my glasses! This was way to weird. Way too fuckin' weird.

* * *

Diego Garcia;

Optimus slowly cracked his eyes open, moaning as he did. What happened? He remembered the flash of light in the sky, searing pain, and then… nothing. Primus, his chassis felt heavy. Where was he? Prime slowly looked around and identified his surroundings as his quarters. He also noticed something very peculiar; everything looked rather large in size and the ceiling look very far away. " _Maybe it's just the position I'm in_," he told himself. Groaning again he lifted a hand and rubbed his throbbing head. His eyes snapped wide open and he froze mid-rub as he felt something soft and slightly greasy on his hand. Carefully, he ran his fingers over his head in inspection only to find that the material covered his entire head. Grabbing hold of a stand he pulled, feeling an immediate twinge of pain run through his scalp as he did, and held the thin strand of matter in front of his eyes. It was sandy brown in color and it looked similar to the stuff on top of the humans' heads that they called "hair".

Suddenly Optimus noticed something else. His hands… They weren't metal anymore… They were fleshy! Horror raging through his systems Prime leapt to his feet and looked himself over. Human! Everywhere he was human! Toes, fingernails, nostrils, skin, hair; everything about him was human! Because he was nude he could see that even his… uh… well… "junk"—isn't that what the humans sometimes called it?—was human too! " What in the AllSpark is going on here?!" he practically screamed. This had to be a dream. This just had to be some sort of weird sick dream! He just needed to wake up. Screwing his eyes shut the Prime smacked himself across the face as hard as he could. After a minute he opened his eyes and looked down. Nope, it was all real.

Breathing heavily (oh, great! He had _**lungs**_ too!) Optimus paced back and forth on his berth, running his hands through his new hair. This was not good. This was really not good! He was losing his mind. He was losing his mind and he was human. How could he expect to lead the Autobots now? How could he expect to fight the Decepticons? Megatron would win this war and Earth would be lost! " There has to be some way I can change back," Prime panted as he continued to pace. " This can't be permanent. It just can't be! But how do I change back?" Suddenly the Prime was hit with an idea and he ceased pacing. " Ratchet!" Without even thinking, Optimus ran to the side of his berth and, after a dizzying moment of seeing just how high he was, scaled down the side of the cement slab before streaking (uh… pun intended) out of the room and down the hall toward the main room of the Autobot hangar.

Optimus soon found that the trip from his quarters to the main room took quite a bit more time and was a lot more tiring on human legs than it was on Autobot ones. By the time he reached half-point mark between his berthroom and the main room he was winded and completely exhausted. He paused against the wall for a moment to catch his breath, and then he continued running. " Ratchet!" he bellowed as he barreled into the main room. " Ratchet! You have to help me! I've been…" Prime suddenly dropped off, skidded to a stop, and stood standing there gob-stopped at what he saw. His entire team—Ratchet, Ironhide, the triplets, the twins—all of them were human as well!

Flareup, Arcee, and Chromia all of a sudden blushed and hid their eyes: Arcee and Flareup giggling awkwardly while 'Mia just simply looked away. All of the mechs stared for a moment then turned away too, Skids having to slap Mudflaps upside the head to get him to move; his twin was too shocked to look away.

Optimus' face went beet-red as he instantly remembered that he was stark naked. This was something he had never really had to worry about as a robot, and standing here in embarrassment in the au naturel was just another painful reminder that he was human. Quickly, he went into fig-leaf position, but it didn't help.

Smiling sympathetically Ratchet came forward, a N.E.S.T thermal blanket held in his hands. " We know, Prime," he replied to his commander's earlier statement with a nod. " We've all been turned into humans too. Here." He handed the blanket to Prime who quickly wrapped it around his waist to cover up. " Now that you're awake and aware of the situation, let's get you some clothes."


	9. Taken

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" It's a thief in the night to come and grab you..." Rihanna; _Disturbia_

7

Taken

Eddyville, Montana;

" If you keep your eyes in that position for any longer, they'll stay that way," Gemma teased me.

We were at the breakfast table and I was sitting there, holding my long, shaggy bangs out and crossing my eyes so I could see my unearthly highlights. It had been three days since my encounter with the shard, and I still was amazed at my new appearance. It was still really weird to look in the mirror and see myself without glasses. My clothes hugged me a bit more snuggly now and because my chest filled my shirt out a little more about an inch or two of my abdomen was exposed as well as some cleavage. But my hair was definitely what amazed me the most. Before my transformation my hair had been, in all simplicity, a pain in the ass; it had been wavy and frizzy and unruly and… well… really a bitch to deal with. Now, however, my hair was relatively straight and smooth and a complete joy to have. Considering those facts and throwing in the totally alien, but wicked sweet highlights, my hair was my one vanity, and I'll be the first to tell you I didn't have many. But there was still one fact I couldn't get past: Savannah Peterson was still more beautiful than I could ever hope to be. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but it wasn't so much her beauty as it was the fact she had Bryce.

As I've stated before, I had never been boy crazy—hardly ever even thought about boys along those lines… well… except for some actors. But there was just something about Bryce that had gotten to me. I didn't know whether it was the fact that he had been so nice to me or if it had been his laugh or his smile or what, but this boy had definitely caught my eye even if he hadn't yet stolen my heart.

Uncrossing my eyes, I turned them on my little sister who was smirking deviously at me and couldn't help but smirk back. Letting go of my bangs, I slapped the bill of her baseball cap, which she only wore when she wasn't wearing her wig, to make it cover her eyes. " Smart-ass," I murmured.

" Jerk," she snapped back with a devil-may-care grin, repositioning her hat.

" Urchin," I returned

" Neh!" Gemma exclaimed as she impishly stuck out her tongue.

" Neh!" I mimicked her, all the while making a big deal out of how I could stick my tongue out farther than she could.

My baby sister pulled her tongue back in her mouth and glowered at me, crossing her arms over her chest. " Show-off," she murmured, barely able to suppress a smile. " Just because you're older."

I just giggled and beamed proudly. " And don't you forget it," I told her, smacking her cap again.

Gemma bumped up the bill again, glared at me, then laughed, thus causing me to laugh with her.

" Well you two certainly seem to be in a good mood," Mom mused with a smile as she came into the kitchen, still in her pajamas, bathrobe, and fuzzy slippers.

" You could say that," I chuckled, tweaking Gemma's nose.

" Good," Mom replied as she got out a bowl, poured some Life cereal into it, and added the milk, " because I have some news that's gonna put you in an even better mood."

" Do tell," I encouraged with honesty and a genuine smile. Wow, I must have really been in a good mood if I was acting like this towards Mom. Because I blamed her for Dad's leaving (even though I still hated my dad too) I hardly ever smiled at her or used anything other than a sarcastic or angry tone when talking to her.

I could tell Mom sensed it too, because she gave me a weird look. Once she had decided that I was being honest she smiled warmly again and began to give us her news. " Well, girls," she said, adding sugar to her cereal, " do you remember that job I applied for a week ago?"

" The emergency dispatcher thing?" I asked.

Mom nodded. " Mm-hm. Well as it turns out I got the job."

Gemma's eyes grew wide as saucers and her jaw dropped to the table, and I'm sure my expression looked very much the same. Then we both exploded into excitement. Gemma jumped up and started doing a happy dance as she cheered while I celebrated in my seat.

" Mom, that's great news!" I laughed joyously. " Congratulations!"

Gemma darted over and wrapped our mother in a tight hug. " You'll be the best 911 dispatcher ever, Mommy!"

Mom just laughed and hugged her back. " Thanks, honey," her voice sounded a little ragged since Gem was holding her so tight.

" When do you start?" I questioned.

Suddenly the smile dropped from Mom's face, and she gave me a sheepish look. " Now, see," she stammered, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, " that's where it gets tricky."

Gemma let go of Mom and looked up at her in confusion. " What gets tricky?" she asked.

I kept my eyes trained on Mom's face and stayed silent, waiting for her to answer.

" In order to have this job," Mom started to explain, " I have to go to school to learn the procedures."

" School?" Gemma asked.

" How long?" I inquired at the same time.

" The rest of May and the whole of June, then I'd start in July."

" A whole month?" Gemma whined.

Mom looked down at Gemma and stroked her cheek, smiling sympathetically. " Yes, baby," she answered with a nod. " A whole month."

" How far?" I asked.

" Far enough away that I'd have to stay at the campus."

" So we'd be all by ourselves for a whole month?" Gemma breathed, eyes wide with fear. She clutched Mom tighter.

I doubted that scenario. Mom would never let us fend for ourselves for that long, not in a new town, but still, I had to admit that I was a little bit nervous myself. My stomach knotted in anticipation as I waited for Mom's answer.

" No," Mom shook her head. " No, I wouldn't let that happen. I've already talked to Aunt Clara and she said she'd be more than happy to come out here and spend that time with you."

" Ugh!" the groan escaped before I could stop it.

Mom turned a warning eye on me. " Artemis…" she cautioned me.

Well, since I'd already made my displeasure known, I might as well have gone all the way. " Mom, please, not Aunt Clara," I moaned, banging my forehead against the table. " Anyone but her. Every time she visits us or we visit her she always makes that stupid vegetarian crap."

" I kinda like tofu," Gemma voiced her opinion.

I lifted up my head and pointed a finger at her. " That's because she warped your mind early," I snapped with a glare.

" Oh, come on, Artemis," Mom lamented with a heavy sigh and an eye roll. " I know you and Aunt Clara have had your differences…"

" That's like saying Predator and Alien just had their little differences," I rumbled.

"… but," Mom continued, " she's not that bad."

" Speak for yourself," I spat out, crossing my arms over my chest and sitting back in my chair. " She's a nut! Do you have any idea of what she tries to do to me every time she sees me? She tries to turn me into little Miss Girly-girl! You know one time she actually tried to set me up on a date?"

Gemma's face suddenly twisted into an evil smile. " I bet you wouldn't mind that if it was Bryce she was trying to set you up with," she taunted.

" Shut up," I snarled.

" Who?" Mom asked.

" Bryce McCoy," Gemma answered, not even looking away from me.

" You keep your yap shut, little girl!" I growled. " I'm warnin' you!" Yes, sometimes—not a lot—but sometimes Gemma and I acted like your classic 'get-on-each-others-nerves' siblings.

" Who's Bryce McCoy?" Mom questioned again, giving me a suspicious look.

" Artemis' imaginary boyfriend and future imaginary husband."

" Is not!" I yelled indignantly. " _Not imaginary husband, anyway_," I added to myself.

Gemma turned to Mom. " Artemis calls him a "hunk"," she snickered. " She has _**soooo**_ got a crush on him."

" Do not!" I shrieked

" Do too!" Gemma insisted.

" Do not!"  
" Do too!"

" **DO NOT!**"

" **DO TOO!**"

" Girls! Girls!" Mom broke us up. " Enough!" After she was sure we'd settled down, she turned suspicious eyes on me. " Artemis?" she questioned. " Is there anything you want to tell me?"

" He's a guy, Mom, okay?" I replied. " He's just a guy that I met the other day at the park when Gem and I were there. He's nice, and yes, a hunk. Yes, I will admit that I like him."

Mom closed her eyes and sighed heavily. " Artemis," she groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose, " what have we talked about? I don't want you dating until you're…"

" Seventeen," I finished for her. " You haven't had to worry about it in the past, Mom, and you don't have to worry about it now. I don't have a chance with Bryce. He's Savannah Peterson's," I added the last part glumly.

Mom nodded satisfied. " Good," she replied. " I'm glad we understand each other." She finished her cereal. " Now back to our main topic; I leave this coming Monday. Aunt Clara _**will**_ be the one to come and stay with you," she gave me a stern look, telling me to shut up, " but the thing is, is that she won't be able to get here for a couple weeks. So for that time I'll need someone else to look after you."

I groaned again. " It's not bad enough that we have to have Aunt Clara come a stay with us?" I lamented. " Now we get a baby-sitter until she comes too?" I could understand why Mom would make this decision. Two weeks was still a long time for an almost-fifteen-year-old and a nine-year-old to be left alone, especially in a new town with people we didn't know very well. Add that to the fact that bad stuff just always seemed to happen to this family and you had an airtight case. Still, that didn't mean I had to be happy about it.

" Yes," Mom stated simply. " Now since we don't know too many people in town I've decided to hold some interviews."

" When will that happen?" Gemma questioned, as nervous about a baby-sitter as I was annoyed.

" Tomorrow afternoon, and if I can't find anybody, the next day as well." Mom smiled lovingly at us. " I only want the best for my girls." Her eyes came to mine and she added, " And the most trustworthy."

My eyes fell from hers as they pricked with tears. I clenched my hands in my lap so tight that my knuckles showed white and cracked. Fear gripped me as I remembered that night three years ago. " _Never again_," I promised myself. " You're gonna have me help you, right?" I choked out. Ever since the incident I'd had a pretty good sense of telling the good people from the bad ones.

" If you want to," Mom replied softly.

I just nodded, still looking down at my hands.

A heavy uncomfortable silence fell over the room for a moment.

After an eternity Mom cleared her throat. " Well, let's just get these dishes cleared." She stood, picked up all our cereal bowls and took them to the sink where she began to rinse them out.

Gemma grabbed the milk and took it back to the 'fridge while I grabbed the cereal and stuck it back in the appropriate cupboard. Then we both turned to exit the room.

" Oh, girls?" Mom called after us as she stuck the bowls and spoons in the dishwasher. " Are you doing anything right now?"

Gemma and I moved as one as we froze mid-stride and backed up into the kitchen. " Uh… no," we answered in unison.

Closing the dishwasher and straightening up, Mom brushed her hands together and smiled. " Would you mind running down to the grocery store and picking up a few things for me? I would do it myself, but I have to start packing."

" Sure," Gemma replied.

" What ever you need, Mom," I said at the same time.

" Thanks, sweethearts," Mom crooned with a grin. " Get a couple gallons of milk, a loaf of bread, and some salt. There's a twenty lying on my dresser. Hurry now."

My sister and I nodded, headed up the stairs to Mom's room, grabbed the cash and took off for the store. As we headed out the door and walked down the street, the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. I couldn't help but feel that I was being watched. Looking back over my shoulder I saw nothing but empty neighborhood so I shrugged and dismissed it, but that feeling stayed in the back of my mind. Something just didn't feel right.

* * *

" Did you really have to go and tell Mom about my crush on Bryce?" I huffed as we entered the grocery store.

Gemma snickered impishly as she grabbed a shopping basket and handed it off to me. " Of course," she replied. " I'm your little sister; it's my job to tell your secrets to Mom." Then she punched me in the shoulder. " Besides, it's payback for touching that shard after I told you not to."

I quickly whipped around with a finger pressed to my lips. " Shh," I shushed her harshly. " Keep your voice down when you talk about that." Glancing around, I saw that we'd drawn nobody's attention so I turned back to my sister. " If people hear you talking about that they'll start getting curious and ask questions. The last thing we need is word getting 'round to Mom so that she'll freak out, because once she does she won't let us out of her sight, and that means no job and thus no money. So mum's the word about the shard, got it?" I gave her a stern look.

Gem nodded her head with all the honesty in the world. " My lips are sealed."

I lovingly smiled. " That's my girl," I said. Then I turned away and we continued on through the grocery store to pick up what we'd been sent here for.

About twenty minutes later we were at the checkout counter with our requested items. After purchasing them, I grabbed the bag and we headed out the door back toward home. Once again I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched, but when I glanced over my shoulder, there was nothing. I tried to shrug the feeling off like before, but it just wouldn't go away. I looked again. Still nothing. I turned back to my original path, waited a few minutes and checked again. Nothing yet again—so why was the hair on the back of my neck standing up on end?

" Artemis?" Gemma questioned, drawing my attention.

I looked down at her. " Yeah, bug-a-boo?" I replied.

She gave me a quizzical worried look. " Are you okay?" she asked. " You keep looking over your shoulder."

Damn it, she'd caught me! " I'm fine, Gem," I assured her. Even though I was far from it, there was no point in freaking her out over my paranoia. " Everything's fine."

Gemma stared at me for a moment, then tilted her head and looked at me like a scientist would a lad experiment. After a moment she shook her head. " No," she stated. " No, you're not fine; I can tell you're lying. Don't lie to me, Artemis, you're no good at it. Tell me what's going on."

Damn! The little urchin had caught me again! Biting my lip I decided there was no point in continuing my lies to her; she obviously wasn't buying them and never would, just like was normal. So I sighed and gave in. " Okay," I conceded. " Ever since we left home I've had this weird feeling that we—or really, I—were being watched. So I look back over my shoulder to see, but nothing's ever there."

" Then why do you feel like that?"

I shook my head. " I dunno. But something… something just doesn't feel right, Gem. Not at all." Suddenly I heard the sound of a motor behind me. Slowly I turned to look. Coming up the street, putting along unnaturally slow, was a silver colored van with tinted windows. Something clicked in my mind and all of a sudden I knew we were in trouble. I don't know how, but I did. Slowly, carefully, I reached out and put a hand on Gemma's shoulder all the while still eying the van. " Gem, just keep walking," I whispered.

" Why are you whispering?" she asked looking at me, completely unaware of the danger.

" Just do as I say!" I snapped harshly voice still at a whisper. " Keep walking; act like nothing's wrong. We're going to the police station."

" What? Why?"

" Just trust me. Now come on." I led her off down the street glancing back over my shoulder every now and then to see if the van was still trailing us… and it was. Several minutes passed and we rounded another corner, which thankfully took us out of the view of the van. I breathed a sigh. Just then I heard the van pick up speed… lots of speed. Whipping around, I saw the van screech around the corner and come barreling after us. Adrenaline hit my system and I went into overdrive. Dropping the bag of groceries, I reached out and seized Gemma's arm. " Run, Gemma!" I screamed, pulling her behind me as I broke into a dead run. " Run!" I don't know how Gemma managed to keep up with me, but she did. We sprinted down the sidewalk and I planned on taking us both across the crosswalk to the other side of the street when a black car pulled out in front of us and screeched to a halt. Great! The dude in the silver van had a partner! " Come on!" I yelled and yanked Gemma down a maze of alleys.

I thought we were Scot-free when all of a sudden we turned a corner and came face to face with a tall wooden fence. " Son of a bitch!" I screamed in fear and frustration. I kicked the fence with everything I had in me and let out a cry of rage. " Goddamn it! Fuck it all!" We were trapped! Trapped like a couple of fuckin' rats! I turned to Gemma who was looking at me with a look of sheer terror as she panted hard. My heart broke in two. " I'm sorry, Gemma," I heaved. I reached out and put my hands on her shoulders. " I'm so sorry."

" Wh-what happens now?" she choked out.

I sighed and shook my head before looking back at the dead end. That's when it caught my eye. There was a hole at the bottom of the fence, and though it was too small for me to squeeze through, it wasn't for Gemma's small frame. The sound of car engines came to my ears and I knew they were coming closer. I looked back at my sister. " Gemma, listen to me," I ordered, drawing her attention back to me. " See that hole in the fence?"

She looked and nodded before looking back at me.

" When I tell you to I want you to crawl through that and run to the police station."

" I'm not leaving you!" Gemma shrieked, tears coming to her brown eyes.

" That wasn't a request!" I snapped. " Gem, if they take us both we're goners. You've gotta get to the station and tell 'em what's happened, that way they'll come looking for me."

" But you're my sister!" she wailed, crying now.

The engine noise became louder and I looked back to see the car and the van pulling into the alley. I turned back to Gemma. " And that's why you gotta do this, bug-a-boo. Understand?"

Gemma was silent and I could tell she was struggling with herself to decide what to do. After a moment she nodded.

I smiled. " That's my girl." I quickly glanced back to see the cars park and shut off before looking Gemma straight in the eyes. " Hey, I'll see you again. I promise."

" Sister's honor?"

I hesitated. " Yeah, sister's honor," I finally said, though I knew it was a lie.

Gemma threw her arms around me in a quick tight hug. " I love you, sissy," she whispered.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I thought that this would probably be the last moment I'd ever have with my baby sister… the last time I'd ever get to hug her and tell her I loved her. I closed my arms around her and held her close. " I love you too, bug-a-boo," I choked out as I kissed her head. Car doors banged and I looked up to see at least a six men dressed in black and wearing ski masks advancing on us. I pulled away from Gemma and shoved her in the direction of the fence. " Go, Gemma!" I turned to face the men.

She ran to the fence, knelt down, and then looked back me, tears streaming down her cheeks, lip trembling. " Artemis…" she sobbed.

" Go!" I yelled again, looking back over my shoulder at her. " Run! Go now!" I watched as she squeezed through the hole and disappeared.

" How brave it was of you to save your sister," a weaselly voice drew my attention.

I snarled and got into a ready position. " I swear to God if you go after her…"

" Oh don't worry," the owner of the voice interrupted me. " We don't want her."

I watched cautiously as the other men formed a circle around me, then I turned my attention back to him. " Then what do you want?"

He grinned evilly. " You."

Before I could think, the men lunged and snagged me.

Screaming in pure rage, I fought and strained and struggled to break free of their grips, but they held me fast. Growling and snarling like a caged wolverine, I turned my eyes back on the man who had spoken. " Who the fuck are you?! What the hell do you want with me?!"

He simply snickered and came towards me, hands folded behind his back. " Oh, you will learn our identity in due time," he answered. " As for what we want with you," he pulled out a sparking tazer, " all we want is… to help you get something off your mind." Quick as lightning, he shoved the tazer in my chest.

My muscles contracted as the electricity surged through my body. My head flew back and I gritted my teeth as I screamed in agony, and then it all went black.

* * *

Starscream watched as the human girl slumped to the ground, unconscious. Placing the tazer back in its holder on his belt, he removed his mask and looked up at the other Decepticons. " Excellent work, gentlemen," he congratulated his humanized compatriots. He looked back down at the girl and added, " Lord Megatron will be pleased." Then he knelt down and held the girl's chin in his hand. He gently stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. " And since it's highly unlikely that the child will cooperate, I know our good doctor will enjoy picking her fresh, pretty, young mind apart."


	10. Rescue

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Hurry up and save me..." Tiffany Giardina; _Hurry Up & Save Me_

8

Rescue

Diego Garcia (Same Day);

It was complete chaos in the main hangar as N.E.S.T soldiers worked desperately to locate where the flash had generated from. Three days had passed since the event had happened and they still didn't have a clue as to where the shard was! It was a race against time. The 'cons—though they were probably turned into humans too—were still out there and they had to have seen the flash too and—with N.E.S.T's luck—probably already knew what it was. If they got a hold of it God only knew what could happen. N.E.S.T knew they had to find that shard and soon.

Optimus entered the hangar and strode across the floor up to the catwalk where Ratchet, Ironhide, Chromia, Sergeant Epps, and Major Lennox were all stationed. When he reached the top all eyes flickered to him then back to the computer a young soldier Optimus had come to know as Private Wolf was working at. " Have we found anything yet?" the Prime questioned as he too came to a stop beside and turned his attention to the computer screen.

" Just that we've found out the flash was originally generated from somewhere in Montana," Lennox replied, not looking away from the screen. " But that's all the further we've been able to narrow it down."

" Satellite images were basically worthless," Epps put in with a shrug as he looked at Optimus. A cold shiver ran down the Sergeant's spine. It was still so weird seeing the boss 'bot as a human, and those electro-blue eyes made it all the creepier. " One minute there's nothing and the next the camera gets knocked out."

" With any luck the Decepticons are having this as hard as we are," Chromia spoke out.

" Well considerin' the Decepti-creeps aren't bearing down on us yet," Ironhide replied, putting an arm around his spark-mate—er—wife, " I'd say the odds are still in our favor."

" It's still anyone's game," Ratchet sighed heavily.

" Hmm," Optimus hummed to himself as he studied the computer screen carefully. He didn't like this. There was too much uncertainty surrounding this shard and uncertainty and the AllSpark was a deadly mixture.

" This just in," the TV on the catwalk, which was always on some sort of news channel, suddenly caught Prime's attention and he turned to watch. The female news anchor was holding a paper in her hands and reading off of it. " We have just received a report of a kidnapping in the small town of Eddyville, Montana. Fifteen-year-old Crystal Artemis Savage has been abducted." As the woman spoke a picture of the child in question materialized in the upper right hand corner.

A pang of sympathy for the girl and her family went through the Prime's spark. " Poor child," he whispered, shaking his head. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he began to turn back to the computer when something caught his eye. He did a double take. That was the girl from his vision! She looked a little different with glasses and her all black hair braided back, but it was definitely her! How could he ever forget those hazel-green eyes? He walked closer to the TV and watched on as the broadcast played out. " Major," he called after a moment, " I believe I have just solved our problem."

* * *

Some Abandoned Asylum in Montana;

When I came to I was blindfolded and disoriented. My mind was a little fuzzy. What had happened? I remembered telling Gemma to run, fighting, shocking pain, and then… nothing. Groaning, I tried to lift a hand up to my throbbing head but found that it was strapped down. Quickly I tried my other arm only to find it bound too. I tried kicking my feet out but they were restrained too and from what I could feel there was another strap around my torso, holding me to the chair that I was seated in. Going into a panic, I continued to try and strain against my bonds, but they wouldn't give in the least bit. What the hell was going on?! Where the fuck was I?!

Suddenly I remembered the men and the tazer and I realized that I had been kidnapped; knocked out, thrown in the back of their van—maybe even into the trunk of that black car—and taken somewhere where there was no hope of ever being found. What did these men want with me? No, what were the men going to do to me? More panic flooded through me as I asked myself that question. What _**were**_ they going to do to me?! Kill me? Traffic me? Rape me?! My mind raced through all the possibilities and tears pricked at my eyes as my breath came faster and shallower and my heart raced. " _Oh, dear God, please don't let it be rape!_" I silently prayed. I'd just barely managed to defend myself against one man and there was no hope I'd be able to defend myself against six of them. I could clearly see myself tied down to a bed, naked, screaming with a ring of men circled around the room watching as one of them got down to business and waiting for their turn. " _God, help me!_" I quietly pleaded. Taking a shuddering breath, I wailed out, " Help! Somebody help me!"

A hard fist suddenly made contact with my cheek. " Shut your trap!" a gruff voice spat.

That one punch was all it took for the panic to be burned up by anger. " Up yours!" I growled.

" You talk to me like that one more time," the voice returned, " and I swear to Primus I'll shove that chair you're sitting in up your ass! Megatron won't even be able to stop me!"

" Who the hell is Megatron?" I questioned.

" Blackout!" another voice called from somewhere in the room.

I froze in more panic. A heavy metal door slammed shut and the room around me reverberated. The sound of feet coming in my direction came to my ears and the next thing I knew gentle fingers were stroking my cheek where I had been stuck. I flinched slightly and sucked in a breath. It kind of hurt.

" Tsk, tsk, tsk," the man tsked his tongue as he continued to examine my cheek, then I heard him shift positions as he turned to confront someone. " Blackout," he repeated, " this is no way to treat guests."

" Right, sorry, Master," Blackout replied with the sound of a laugh in his voice, " won't happen again."

" See that it doesn't," this "Master" said. " Now remove this child's blindfold."

There was the sound of more feet coming towards me and then the blindfold was ripped off my head. I squeezed my eyes shut against the blinding light, then after a moment cautiously opened them, blinking constantly until my eyes had become accustomed to the light. Looking around, I saw that I was indeed strapped to some sort of huge metal chair in the middle of a very dark room with only a single lamp illuminating me. I looked back around and found myself staring into the sweetly smiling face of a man that looked like Hugo Weaving. Or an evil version of Hugo Weaving anyway.

He was dressed in a black suit with a dark purple dress-shirt underneath, a black tie around his neck, a silver pocket-hankie neatly folded in his pocket, and black loafers at his feet; real businessman type. His dark hair was graying at the temples giving him that distinguished gentleman look and was slicked back. He was clean-shaven with a rather tan and worn face and he looked nice enough, except for two factors: the incisors in his perfect pearly white smile were sharp as vampire teeth and his eyes were blood red.

Remember how I said earlier that I have a knack of telling the good apples from the bad? Well, right at that moment, my radar was going off on high alert. This dude was rotten to the core; a wolf in sheep's clothing. Needless to say I didn't like this guy. Not in the least bit. My face twisted into a scowl and a low growl emitted from my throat.

The man simply smiled in an all-too-friendly manner at me. " Hello, child," he greeted me. " I'm Megatron."

" And I don't give a shit," I snarled back.

For a split second, a look of loathing and anger flashed in Megatron's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with his all-too-sweet mask. He chuckled warmly. " Well aren't you the… precocious one?" he commented tapping my nose with a finger. Suddenly he stood up so I couldn't see his face anymore. " Blackout," he said to the man who had been my guard, " leave us. I would like to speak with Ms. Savage in private."

" Yes, Master," Blackout replied. Though I couldn't see him in the dark beyond the reach of the light I could hear his feet retreating out of the room. Again the room shook as the door banged shut and it was just Megatron and I in the room… all alone.

After a moment Megs knelt back down to my eye level. " Are you frightened, Artemis?" he asked me, a strange gleam coming to his eye.

Was I scared? Hell, yes. Was I going to let him know that? Hell, no! " As if," I answered, hiding my fear behind my own mask.

Megatron released a chuckle that told me he wasn't convinced and stood, circling around the back of the chair.

" How do you know my name?" I questioned, more scared than ever now that he was out of sight. Suddenly I felt a rough hand on the back of my neck and watched as another reached down and grabbed my braid before pulling it back up over my shoulder.

" I know many things about you," Megatron answered as he began to unbraid my hair. " For example, I know that your actual name is 'Crystal' but you prefer to be called 'Artemis' due to a horrible name you were called by as a child. I know that you are turning fifteen in two weeks time." He finished unbraiding my hair and draped it over my shoulder. Suddenly he ran his hands over my breasts and traced the birthmark on my chest before leaning down and snuffling into the crevice of my neck. " I know that you were almost raped as a twelve-year-old and thoroughly beaten by the man for trying to defend yourself," he whispered his lips tickling my ear.

A shiver ran up my spine, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms. I gulped. This dude seriously gave me the creeps! " What do you want with me?" I forced out through clenched teeth.

Megatron took his hands off me and slowly walked back around to the front of my chair. He took my chin in his hand and raised my face to his. For an eternity he said nothing and just looked into my eyes, those blood-red orbs of his making me feel naked in his presence. Finally he spoke. " I want to know about the AllSpark," he stated, a slight edge in his voice.

I blinked in complete confusion at him. " What the hell is an "AllSpark"?" I asked.

The patient mask that Megs wore completely dropped into an all out scowl that would've sent a grizzly running for the hills and a deep rumbling growl rose out of his throat. " You know exactly what I'm talking about," he declared.

" Uh… no, actually I don't." Without warning I was slapped hard across the face and I yelped in pain. Tears leapt to my eyes and I sat there quivering, my hair covering my face. My cheek throbbed with heat and ache. Yep, I definitely didn't like this guy: no question about it now! My jaw was seized again and my head brought around as I was forced to meet Megatron's eyes again.

He glared at me with all that was evil and vile within him and practically snarled, " Now… tell me about the AllSpark."

I swallowed hard, knowing that what I said would most assuredly bring on another beating, but decided that I couldn't lie about something I didn't know anything about. " I don't know what you're talking about," I stated the truth again, slowly and carefully. Just as I predicted I was slapped again, except this time it was on the other cheek.

" Insolent bitch!" my interrogator roared. " You really think I don't know that you're lying to me?! I know you know the location of the AllSpark! Now tell it to me!"

I whipped my head around and glared back up at him, just as mad as he was. " I can't tell you because I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" I screamed. " How the hell do you expect me to tell about something when I have no idea what it is?!" A hard hand was laid across my kisser, causing me to bite my tongue. The nauseatingly metallic taste of blood immediately filled my mouth. I spit it out.

" You have to know where it is!" Megatron bellowed. " You were the first one at its location when it crashed!"

Suddenly I knew what he was talking about. " You mean the shard?" I gasped, spitting out another mouthful of blood.

" Yes, the shard," he replied, his voice softer now but still growly and threatening.

" It's nowhere," I told him. " I touched it, it put the zap on me, then it turned to stardust. You wanna find it I suggest you try searching the wind, because it's gone."

Megatron's face suddenly took on an epically stunned look and he paled—I mean _**really **_paled! He looked like frickin' Robert Pattinson in the movie that shall not be named except ten times whiter. But just as quickly as he had paled he grew beet red and started to shake with rage. He started to growl again. " Rrraaahhh!" He seized the back of my heavy, metal chair and pulled it over.

" Ugh!" The chair crashed to the floor, pinning me under it. I grimaced as I was crushed against the cold linoleum. " Ahh!" Suddenly the hair on the top of my head was snagged and my head was pulled up so that I could face Megatron again.

" You're lying," he growled into my ear.

" No… I'm not," I retorted with a gasp. " Read my… mind, genius. You'll see I'm… telling the truth."

" Actually," Megatron mused after a moment, " that's not a bad idea." He released me and set the chair back up before disappearing into the blackness of the room. The door banged open again and Megatron's voice soon followed. " Bring in the cortical psychic patch," he called out into the hall.

My eyes widened to the size of dinner-plates. I had no idea what a cortical psychic patch was, but whatever it was it didn't sound good and I didn't want to find out. Once again I tried straining at my bonds in an effort to get loose. They still wouldn't budge. That's when I heard the sound of a squeaky wheel and looked up to see a little person dressed in a lab coat and looking a lot like Dr. Frankenstein pushing a cart into the light. On the cart was a rather strange looking device: a large object that looked like a large battery with voltage and watts readers on the bottom shelf and on the top shelf, two head devices connected with a long cord between them. I watched on in horror as the mad scientist took two cords and hooked them to the battery and then disappeared into the dark with the other ends to no doubt plug them into some sort of socket somewhere. " Wh-what's going on here?" I gulped to no one in particular. I about jumped out of my skin when a rough hand was placed on my shoulder and looked up into the eyes of Megatron yet again.

" You have something I greatly desire," the man rumbled as he met my gaze, " something I need. And since you won't tell me where it is I'm going to have to go inside your mind and probe around until I find it."

" You're going inside my head?"

" Yes, I am." Megs knelt down and stuck his face in mine before snarling, " And I'm going to rip your mind apart; brain-cell by brain-cell, memory by memory, thought by thought, until there is nothing but a worthless pathetic shell left. Then, and only then, after I've found what I want and retreated back into my own head will I end your miserable human life and rip the very flesh from your bones. And maybe, just maybe, if you're a good little girl and cooperate from now on, I'll even let you pick the way you want to perish. You have every possible option ranging from drowning to being burned at a stake."

I could do nothing but sit there and stare at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. Oh yeah, a _**real**_ charmer, this guy! He knew just how to make a girl wet between the legs—I just about peed myself. I gulped and released a shaky breath.

Megatron sneered, sensing my fear. " Are we ready, Doctor?" he called over his shoulder, not looking away from me.

" Ready!" the doctor called back through the dark. A second later a light flicked on to reveal another chair identical to the one I was sitting in just across from me.

Megatron's sneer widened and a baneful chuckle lifted from his throat. He stood and strode towards the chair where he promptly seated himself.

As soon as he was situated the good doctor reappeared out of the gloom around us, grabbed one of the head devices off the cart, and came at me with it. After scrambling up into my chair, he positioned the device on my head and strapped it in place under my chin, then he jumped down and did the same to Megatron. Once he was done with the devices he crossed back to the cart and put his hand on the little flip switch on the battery-box thing. He looked at Megs who nodded and then flipped the switch, pressed a few buttons and turned a couple dials.

The next thing I knew the headset was clamping down onto my skull. A stunning pulse ripped through me and I threw myself against my restraints again due to the pain. Everything went black, though somehow I was still—in a manner of speaking—conscious, and then that's when I felt him… inside my head. I could see him with my mind's eye and he frightened me more than he already had, because he wasn't human anymore; he was… a giant robot.

Megatron stormed through my psyche; roaring, snarling, reaching out with his oily, greasy, rusty claws and raking them down the sides of my brain, sending fiery trails of excruciating pain racing down my spinal column and out across my nerves. He rampaged towards the part of my brain where the memories were kept, determined to rip apart anything that got in his way and to take hold of whatever information he would find there.

I wouldn't let him! I desperately wanted him out of my head and something inside told me I couldn't let him find out the location of this "AllSpark". " _No!_" I screamed. I threw up a mental block—don't ask me how, 'cuz I don't know—and then another and another until I had him surrounded in a box, then I started to close the sides in around him. He extracted a sword and started to slash at and fight against the walls, but I gritted my teeth and reinforced them.

" _Meddlesome bitch!_" he raged still trying to fight his way out.

" _You don't belong here!_" I roared back as I continued to constrict the box. " _You have to leave!_"

" _You can't keep me from what is rightfully mine!_"

" _The AllSpark—whatever it may be—is _**not**_ yours!_"

" _It is mine!_"  
" _No! Get out of my head!_" I closed the walls in around him tighter.

Megatron snarled. " _If you won't let me pass willingly, I'll just have to tear my way through!_" With that he seized hold of one of the blocks, sank his claws into it, and ripped it in half.

I screamed out in pain.

He ran on.

I tried throwing up more blocks to stop him, but he managed to slip by all of them.

He was almost to my memory banks now! With a triumphant laugh, he lunged with a grabbing hand. I cried out in despair as he slipped passed yet another block and sank his fingers into the folds of my memory. But then something amazing happened! As he dug his claws down into my memory core something—I don't know what, but something—sent a powerful jolt of electricity through him and threw him clear and out of my mind.

* * *

Megatron didn't know what had happened, but one second he was within the child's mind, the location of the AllSpark at his very fingertips, and the next he was being electrocuted and thrown out of her subconscious. As his psyche slammed back into his own body the humanized Decepticon Lord awakened from the process. His eyes snapped wide open and he cried out in agony as the electrical current, which had followed him back through the link from Artemis' mind to his body, burned through him. Even though he was awake and in his own body he could still see flashes from hers. Stars, the creation of Cybertron, then what could be considered static. Images of the Cube's crash here on earth, its destruction, then more static. Snippets of the Autobots' and Decepticons' earth-based battles, the moment in which he snuffed Optimus' spark, and yet more static. Finally the last image he saw was of Optimus Prime, and standing beside him was a young femmling with black armor marked with dark green flames and lighter green tribal markings. Barely imperceptible silver Cybertronian runes were etched across her armor.

Megatron finally became coherent enough to reach up and rip the headset off before throwing it to the side, then he slumped in his chair, face hidden in his hands as he wiped away the tears of pain that had somehow managed to find their way out of his eyes. He panted heavily, trying to get his heart rate down. What had happened? Why had he been forced out of the girl's head? More importantly what had forced him out? Whatever it was it had been extremely powerful and hadn't wanted him in there. And what about that last image that had flashed before his mind's eye? What did it mean? He cursed in Cybertronian, beyond confused and bewildered.

The doctor quickly shut the machine off and went running to his lord's aid. " Lord Megatron!" he exclaimed as he reached up and put a hand on his master's arm. " Lord Megatron," he repeated a little bit more quietly, " what happened? What did you see?"

Megatron stayed silent for a moment, face still buried in his hands, then he slowly shook his head. " I don't know," he rasped out. " I just don't know." Sluggishly, he raised his head up out of his hands and looked towards the still unconscious girl sitting across from him. A deadly scowl crossed his face and he released a low, rumbling, guttural growl.

" Did you find the location of the AllSpark?" the doctor asked.

Still snarling, Megatron stood up on slightly wobbly legs. " No," he rumbled. " She made sure of that." Still glowering at the girl, he reached down to his hip and pulled his handgun from his holster, switched it off safety, and stalked across the room towards Artemis.

* * *

Slowly, I started to come back to consciousness. My head still hurt from the battle, and to be honest I felt like I had literally been fried, so I couldn't help the groans and moans that escaped me as I started to come to. Finally I opened my eyes and blinked. Dazedly, I slowly processed the facts that I was still strapped in the chair and still wearing the headset. Cursing under my breath, I blinked again and shook my head to try and get my thoughts back in order. I opened my eyes again and that's when I found myself staring down at his shoes. Fear crept back into my system and I slowly looked up into the face of Megatron once more.

He…

Was…

Positively…

Livid.

I'd never seen anyone so angry in my entire life. That fact, along with the fact that I'd seen him as a giant, monstrous robot, and the fact that the dude already seriously creeped me out to no end was enough to paralyze me with terror. Then he raised the gun to my head and I almost wet myself again. I released a shaky breath, knowing that it was probably going to be my last.

" You… wretched… little… bitch," Megatron rasped at me, his entire body quaking with rage as he ripped off my headset. " You'll pay for what you've done…" he cocked the gun, "… right between the eyes."

I gulped and looked beseechingly from the gun up into his blood red eyes.

He just glowered down at me. " I don't miss at this range," he snarled.

Too horrified and exhausted to even whimper, I simply hung my head, waiting for it to end. Maybe it'd be better that way.

" One…" my murderer counted, torturing me even further by dragging out the wait.

I screwed my eyes shut and thought of my sister and my mom.

" Two…" he applied a little pressure to the trigger.

I balled my hands into fists until my nails bit into my palms and my knuckles cracked. " Goodbye, Gem. Goodbye, Mom," I whispered. I bit my lip until it bled and tears streamed down my face.

" Three."

There was a deafening bang that—looking back now I realize—was far too loud to be a gunshot and I screamed… but I was still alive. Somehow I was still alive! Barely daring to look, I opened up one eye and then the next to find an all out scuffle between Megatron and another man. I watched on in awe, confusion, and alarm as the two men brawled before me, cursing and swearing—at least I _**think**_ that's what they were doing—at each other in a strange language that sounded like a bunch of growls and clicks and drones and other unearthly noises. As I watched I couldn't help but wonder who this new man was and how he had found me. I didn't get the same bad kind of vibe off of him as I had Megatron and the others so he had to be one of the good guys. Maybe he was police officer! Maybe the police had caught onto my trail fast enough to find me and rescue me! I thought this but at the back of my mind I highly doubted that was the case. I was so busy wondering about this man's identity that I didn't even notice he'd thrown Megs to the ground and was sprinting in my direction until he was at my side.

He quickly went to work at undoing the buckle of one of my arm restraints. " There," he sighed after a moment with a slight smile. He went on to undo another restraint, but Megatron recovered and grabbed his ankle, pulling him away from me and throwing him across the room (Damn! That guy was strong!) before running after him again.

Megs pulled out his gun and started firing and I could hear return-fire from the other guy.

I sat there in bewildered silence for a minute then looked down at my left arm. It was free! My eyes traveled over to my right hand; it was still bound. Somehow my dazed mind pushed through the haze and shock and formulated the strategy for taking care of that issue. As quickly as I could I went to work at undoing the buckle, somehow managing to gain enough coordination in my fumbling fingers to do it. With my right hand free my mind was a little clearer and I went work on the restraint around my middle. No sooner had I touched the buckle than I was smacked upside the head. Sharp pain made stars dance before my eyes. Shaking my head and thoughts back into place, I turned my eyes to see the good doctor standing beside me was a monkey wrench in his hands.

" Bad girl!" he scolded me.

I growled. " Really not in the mood, midge… ow!" I held the side of my head where he'd hit me again.

" Bad girl!" he yelled again in his squeaky voice. " You behave!" He smacked me on the other side of the head this time.

" Ow!" I held that spot with my other hand. " Yeow!" My hands shifted to the top my head and I glared at him. " Hey! Ouch!" I shook my crushed and throbbing fingers out. " Knock it… ow!" I held my chest and snarled. " Stop… oof!" I wrapped my arms around my middle. " Qui… ow!" I grabbed at my kneecaps. " You little son of a bitch! Ugh!" I was slapped across the face with the wrench. " Quit it! Ahh!" I was slapped the other way across the face. " Quit it!** QUIT IT!**" I snatched the wrench away from him as he brought it down for another blow and ripped it out of his hands.

A look of alarm flashed across his face for a minute. Then his features twisted with anger again and he reached into a pocket of his lab coat and brought out a scalpel. " Bad girl!" He stabbed the scalpel down into my calf.

" **AHHHH!**" My body quivered with pain. Then I released a savage growl, got a firm grip on the monkey wrench, and swung with all the fury that was in me. "**I SAID QUIT IT, YA LITTLE INSECT!**" I struck the good doctor square upside the head, knocking him out cold. Once he fell to the floor and I was sure he was unconscious, I ripped the scalpel out of my leg, grimacing at the pain as I did, and looked back up and across the room where the two men were now bare-knuckle brawling. " Hey!" I called out, drawing the attention of the man who'd come to my rescue.

He looked my way and I chucked the monkey wrench at him. He caught it and swung it around and down across Megatron's jaw. Megatron stumbled back and he swung again. Megs fell to the floor and the man swung the wrench up high over his head and cracked it down across Megatron's skull, knocking him out. Panting heavily, the man threw the wrench to the floor, spit out some blood, wiped off his mouth, and then turned his attention back to me. He hurried across the room towards me and seized hold of the remaining restraints around my torso and legs. With one yank, he ripped them off. " Are you all right?" he panted, offering me a hand.

I took it to help pull myself up. " Other than the fact that Mr. Creepy over there tried to blow my brains out and ankle-bitter here used me for a piñata before jabbing a scalpel through my leg," I groaned, grimacing at the pain of my stab wound, " I think so." Once I was standing I adjusted my weight so that I was standing on my uninjured leg, but it didn't help the pain much.

To make sure I wouldn't fall over the man put an arm around me and allowed me to prop myself up against him. " Can you walk?"

I grimaced and reached down towards my calf. " I…" I gasped as I bit my lip, "… I don't know… ah!" Gunfire rang out and I was pushed down behind the chair to safety. I instinctively covered my head.

The man crouched over me, protecting my body with his as we waited for a break in the barrage. He started speaking in the strange language again. When there was a brief intermission in the gunfire, he shifted slightly off to the side in order to both talk with me and to let me get some air. " Do you think you could make to that hole in the wall?" he asked me, pointing off to the section of the wall that had been blown away when he had no doubt blasted his way into this hellhole.

I looked at the hole and judged the distance between my current location and the wall. It was a good fifteen yards, ten at the least. Not a hard dash to make… without a firing squad at your back trying to mow you down. Besides that there was the fact that I now had a bum leg to contend with… and a painful one at that. Grimacing I looked back at my rescuer. " I don't know," I heaved. " Maybe; if I had suppression fire." Yes, those war movies came in handy at times.

Right as the words came out of my mouth another round of gunfire rained down on us. With a yelp, I huddled down again and the man fell back on top of me. A moment later it stopped and we conversed again.

" I've got about half a magazine in this," he held up his gun. " It's not much and I'll burn through it fast, but it might give you enough cover to get there if you hurry."

Silently I nodded my head with a pant.

Another round came and we waited it out. I don't know if it was the nerves for what was about to take place or what but for some reason this time the gunfire seemed to take forever to dwindle down. But then it ended just as quickly as it had begun and the man had me up and into position to run for the hole. He got into position too and then looked at me. Wordlessly he asked me if I was ready and I nodded silently, causing him to nod in return. Then he held up his fingers. Three, two, one; just like that we were breaking from cover and sprinting towards the exit, him running and ducking behind whatever shelter he could find to cover my escape and me limping along as quickly as I could, not taking time to hit the deck even once because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up again.

When I reached the hole I paused for a breather and looked down. My stomach plunged. What the hell?! This building was built right on the edge of a fucking cliff! I looked back into the gunfight to see my rescuer barreling in my direction, completely out of ammunition.

" Jump!" he bellowed at me.

I quickly took a glance at the drop-off and then looked back at him in disbelief. This dude was insane! " You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

" Just jump!" he ordered. But there was really no point in telling me to because by then he was right beside me and snagging my wrist, pulling me out the hole and down, down, down over the side of the cliff.

The drop took forever and somewhere in the middle of it he let go of me and I was free-falling on my own, not knowing what I was falling into. Suddenly I plunged into ice cold water. I was flipped over and around so many times in the current I don't know how I finally managed to scramble my way back to the surface. I broke through gasping and coughing. I was pushed over a small waterfall and forced under the surf again before I bobbed back up to the surface. " Help!" I spluttered as I broke through into the air once more. " I…" I coughed as river water splashed into my mouth, "… I can't…" I was pushed under the water again and then came back up, "… can't swim!" I fell over a slightly larger waterfall this time and was pushed all the way down to the bottom of the river, sucking in a huge amount of water as I did. Somehow I managed to resurface and make one last feeble attempt to call for help, " Help... please..." Darkness overtook me and I sunk below the surface.

* * *

Optimus broke through the water's surface, gasping for breath, hauling Artemis in tow. As quickly as he could he swam out of the center of the river, his massive muscular body straining against the strong current, towards the bank on the far side of the river. Once out of the center stream the current became easier and he reached the bank in a matter of seconds. Panting and coughing, the humanized Prime lugged the unconscious teenager up out of the water and laid her down on the ground. Turning his head to the side and putting his ear close to her nose he held his breath and listened. She wasn't breathing! Without hesitation, he put the heels of his hands on the flat of her chest and started to pump hard. " One, two, three," he counted softly and then he ceased pumping, opened her mouth, pinched off her nostrils, and leaned down to press his lips to hers. He blew, and then he started to compress her chest again. " One, two, three," and he tried to force the air back into her lungs yet again. He pumped. " One, two, three—come on, Savage!" he panted. He tried to inflate her lungs once more. " Don't give up on me now, child. Breathe for me—come on!" He compressed again and blew. Still nothing. Cursing in Cybertronian to himself, the Prime slammed his fist into her chest one more time. " Breathe, kid!"

Almost immediately the girl's brilliant hazel eyes snapped open and she rolled up onto her side where she began to noisily vomit and cough.

Optimus closed his eyes and released an undeniably relieved sigh. The heavy weight of dread and panic melted away from his chest and he silently thanked Primus. She was alive. She was breathing. " That's a girl," he whispered, the sound of her coughing, gasping, and gagging like music to his ears (as weird and gross as it sounds).

* * *

All things considered, drowning is not so bad. In fact it's rather peaceful and serene... once you stop all the kicking and fighting and struggling to stay alive. But to come back from drowning—oh hell, that's a whole other thing entirely!

My nose and lungs and throat burned like no other. Tears stung my eyes. I wanted desperately to gasp for the breath that my aching lungs craved but I was so busy throwing up and coughing that I simply choked on whatever little air I could drag in. My entire body quaked and spasmed. Saliva, water, and vomit spewed out, not just my mouth, but my nose as well, making the burning sensation worse. My head pounded. I was freezing cold and I just couldn't stop shivering. It was like I had absolutely no control over myself whatsoever! " Holy shit!" I choked out once I was able to take a complete breath. I started to gag again. Once I had choked up the rest of the water I slumped into the wet, muddy ground, weak with pure exhaustion, chilled to the bone, thought process a jumbled thick haze, but at least I could breath now. Panting heavily, I had to force myself to take deep, _**slow**_, cleansing breaths. " Thank God!" I gasped. " Oh, thank you, Jesus!" I started violently shaking from cold and I curled up into a tight ball to try and conserve heat.

That's when I felt two massive and warm arms wrap around me and pick me up. Unconsciously, I rolled onto my other side and huddled as closely as I could to the heat source. Cold! So, so cold!

" Ms. Savage?" a male voice asked.

Somewhere in the back of my clouded mind, I recognized the voice as that of the man who'd saved me. I still didn't know who he was, and I sure as hell didn't know how he knew my name, but at that point I didn't care. All I could think about—all I wanted—was heat! " F-f-f-f-freez-z-z-zing…" I shivered. In response I heard the sound of a zipper and the next thing I knew I was being slipped under a jacket and held against huge, rock-hard, soaking wet, yet still substantially warm body. Giving a loud sigh of relief, I snuggled closer, not caring who he was so long as he was warm. " Oh, sweet mother of heaven!" I exclaimed as the heat slowly worked its way around me.

The man sounded off an amused, soft chuckle and his broad chest rumbled beneath me with it. He then zipped up his jacket a little ways, encasing me against his heat. " It's all right," he assured me as he continued to vigorously rub his hands up and down my back in order to get my blood flow going and to create more heat to warm me up. " You're going to be all right."

But I could barely make sense of his words. I was starting to slip back into unconsciousness and his voice, though practically right in my ear, sounded so far off and muffled.

" Stay with me, child," the man kept talking to me. " Just stay with me. You're going to be okay—come on now!"

Everything faded to black.


	11. Worlds Collide

**Okay, thanks to everyone for reviewing and favoriting and following and the whole shebang. Now I'm gonna ask you all a question. **

**So, you all know how the 'bots and 'cons are all humanized in this—well I need a little input on what actors you think they might all look like. For example, Megatron—as seen in the last chapter—looks like an evil version of Hugo Weaving because that's who voices him in the movies. That, and I've always found Weaving a bit intimidating... even when he's playing a good guy. XD And Optimus—as you will find in this chapter—looks like Gerard Butler due to a picture I found of him on DA done by a brilliant artist known as Naihaan. It's a gorgeous picture and I feel in love with him as that form. But so far that's all of thought of. So now, I'm asking who do you think should be the other Cybertronians? I kinda like the thought of Russel Crowe as Ironhide for example. Yes? No? Voldshtein (Seinfeld reference)? You tell me? What actors should play the 'bots and 'cons?**

**NOW, ON WITH THE STORY! *dramatic music***

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Where strength and confidence collide… along the straight and narrow…" Justin Unger; _This is Freedom_

9

World's Collide

I don't know how long I was out, but when I awoke I was pretty much dry and a hell of a lot warmer. As I started to come to, I groaned softly, still a little sore from the previous events (FYI, cortical psychic patches give you _**unbelievable**_ headaches). Blinking my eyes against the light overhead, I slowly looked around my surroundings. I was in some sort of abandoned barn. How'd I get here? Reaching up, I massaged my temples, trying to relieve the ache. My mind was taken off the headache when all at once I felt a sharp stinging twinge in my right calf and yelped in pain. Sitting up out of the cocoon of… old horse blankets?… that was wrapped around me, I looked down to see the leg of my fatigues rolled up passed my knee and my rescuer crouched down over my bared leg—which was being held tightly in his lap—with a needle and thread, stitching up my wound. An open medical kit was sitting open beside him and I could see a small syringe that must have at one time held a small dosage of local anesthetic. Apparently that dose was starting to wear off because the man threaded the needle back through my skin a couple more times and I gasped sharply both times.

With the wound stitched shut the man tied off the thread and snipped it. " You're finally awake," he stated, not looking up at me as he began putting the medical supplies back in the kit. " For a while there I thought that you'd slipped into a coma." Still not looking at me, he got up, grabbed the kit, and retreated across the room towards a refurbished '54 Ford pickup that had a deep blue paintjob with rich red racing stripes.

I lifted a hand and rubbed my eyes, still groggy enough to forget the recent pain of the stitches. " Wh-where am I?" I croaked.

" At what used to be an old abandoned farmstead, halfway back to Eddyville already," the answer came from within the pickup where the man was stashing the medical kit. He slipped back out and slammed the door behind him before walking back to me with a water bottle in his hand. He knelt down and handed it to me. " Here, drink this. You need to re-hydrate."

I eagerly swiped the already open bottle from his hands and put it to my lips, chugging it down with fervor. I'd just drowned in water and now I was thirsty as hell and couldn't get enough of it—weird. In one go I'd drained down half the liquid. Pulling the bottle away, I panted and wiped my mouth off, feeling a little bit better. Only then did I take the time to look over my rescuer.

He was a man of absolutely, phenomenally impressive stature. He had to be between six-and-a-half and seven feet tall with big, fine-toned, highly ripped muscles that made him look even more massive. His face was worn and rugged, much like Megatron's had been, but yet he was far more handsome and mild looking. He had a slight beard and just a hint of stubble was peppered around his jaw line. His hair was light, almost golden brown in color and tousled in just the perfect way to drive just about any girl up the wall. His eyes were a breathtaking electro-blue and felt like that they could pierce straight through you and see into your heart with one single glance. In short, he had an uncanny resemblance to Gerard Butler; you know—the guy who played the Phantom in the movie _Phantom of the Opera_ and King Leonidas in_ 300_?

My eyes traveled from his face down to his clothes. He was dressed in navy blue cargo pants with a utility belt that strapped around his waist and thighs, a leather red and blue jacket that zipped up, not down the middle of his body but a little off-kilter, over a white muscle shirt, black gloves (which were now tucked into his belt), and heavy duty combat boots. His dog tags were around his neck, flashing in the artificial light of the barn as they dangled down, having slipped out from beneath his jacket as he crouched beside me. He had a pistol in a holster strapped to his left hip but the M-4 that I remembered from before was not with him—my guess was he'd stashed it in his truck.

For several long minutes I looked this man up and down with a mixture of both caution and slight annoyance. Finally I met his stunning blue eyes. " Who… who are you?" I dared to ask, ignoring the chills that ran down my spine from that intense gaze.

" My name is Optimus Prime," the man answered simply.

" '_**Optimus Prime**_'?" I repeated the extremely weird name in complete disbelief. I snorted. " You're not serious, right?"

He cocked his head and gave me a bewildered look. " Why would I not be serious about who I am?" he questioned innocently.

I, in turn, cocked my head to the side and raised an inquiring eyebrow at this. This dude was actually serious? His actual name was in fact 'Optimus Prime'? " You're not kidding," it was a statement, not a question.

" Again I ask why would I not be serious about who I am, Ms. Savage?" he repeated.

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. First a name like 'Megatron' and now 'Optimus Prime'? What the heck kind of weird f-ed up twilight zone was I stuck in? With a sigh I looked back at the man. " Okay then, Optimus," I said, " explain something to me. How do you know my name when I have absolutely no idea who the hell you are? And how did you know I was kidnapped?"

" We heard of your abduction on the news."

" '_**We**_'?"

" Yes, my team and myself."

" Wait a minute. You have a team?"

" I believe that's what I just said."

Even though I knew deep down that he hadn't really meant for that it to be rude, I couldn't help but a get a little annoyed at that comeback. People didn't snap answers at me, I snapped it at them; I was a teenager, that's how the system worked. Chewing on my cheek to keep from sassing back, I took a deep inhale and slowly exhaled. " So you and your team heard on the news that I'd been abducted and that's how you know who I am?"

Optimus only nodded.

" That's the story you're gonna stick with?"

" Considering it's the truth, yes."

" So where's the rest of you team if you really got one?" I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest.

" I believe you mean, 'if you really _**have**_ one'," the large man corrected me placidly. " And it was decided that I would be the only one sent on this mission to retrieve you."

I snarled at having my grammar corrected. " And just what the fuck makes your shit so damn special, Mr. Spell-Check?" I spat.

Optimus' face twisted in exasperation and he leaned forward, sticking his face right in mine. " First of all," he growled, holding up a finger, " I just saved your spark-forsaken aft, child, so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use that tone of language with me. Second: I corrected your grammar, not your spelling, so the 'Mr. Spell-Check' line is moot. And third: the reason of why I was chosen to rescue you is need-to-know."

My face reddened in humiliation and anger. Who the hell did this guy think he was?! Telling me to watch my language—I didn't even know the dude! Here he was—a complete stranger somewhere in his mid-thirties—with me—a girl almost fifteen years old who had been unconscious for God only knows how long—in some sort of abandoned barn, with one of my pant legs rolled up to my thigh and my naked leg—at least at one point—held in his lap! Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, he came back and corrected me again! Okay, yeah, I admit the whole Spell-Check thing made sense, but still he knew what I meant! And then he'd just gone and practically told me that the reason of why he had been sent out of everybody else in the whole world to save me was none of my business! My ass it was none of my business! " Okay, listen, jackass," I snapped jabbing a finger in his chest and making him back off a little, " the reason for you comin' to rescue me is one hundred percent my goddamn business! Now I may be small, but I've had a lot of experience when it comes to throwing punches, so unless you wanna have a couple black eyes you better start tellin' me what I wanna know right now!"

Optimus snarled in irritation and muttered some more in that strange language that he and Megatron had been yelling at each other earlier. For a moment he rubbed his eyes, no doubt wondering why he had gotten stuck with a stubborn and infuriating teenager, and then looked back up and fixed me with a stern gaze. Staring straight into my eyes, he answered in a very measured voice. " I am the leader of my kind, and you possess the knowledge of something that is of great significance to my kind," he explained slowly, making sure I understood. Then he leaned in even closer to me, making the distance between our faces less than a centimeter. " And that, Crystal Artemis Savage, is why I was sent to your rescue."

That time it was my turn to pull away. I stared at him in confusion, because first, wouldn't you get a little befuddled if someone came up to you and started talking about their 'kind'? And second, a lot of that sounded similar to what Megatron had said to me… just without all the evilness and stuff. I blinked at the big man for a minute and looked him up and down once… twice… three times. I didn't know if this guy was serious or just so completely insane that he believed what he was saying. " 'Your _**kind**_'?" I inquired. " What exactly do you mean by 'your kind'? What, are you like Megatron and think your some sort of giant alien robot too?"

" Yes and no," Optimus answered. " Yes, Megatron is one of my kind, but he is not part of my affiliation."

" 'Affiliation'?" I repeated him.

" Yes," Optimus nodded. He twisted off to the side and pointed to a red mechanical face on the blue shoulder of his jacket. " Autobots. Megatron and the others with him are Decepticons."

I stared at the emblem for the longest time, my mouth slightly open and an eyebrow quirked. Autobots? Decepticons? Seriously, was this guy on drugs? Suddenly I snorted and threw myself back in the pile of blankets, laughing hysterically, tears starting to stream down my face I was laughing so hard. Finally I sat up, still giggling and drying my eyes as I did. " Look, dude," I panted, " I'm-I'm sorry but… I think you took one to many cracks to the cranium!" I started laughing all over again.

All the while Optimus just sat there in silence, staring at me like _**I**_ was the crazy one. When I finally stopped laughing he cocked his head to the side again and looked at me quizzically. " You don't believe me?" he asked.

Those words and the sincere look on his face were enough to start me off in a whole new set of giggles again. I had to hand it to this guy—he was a real riot! Finally, with the last of the giggles out of my system, I looked back up at him, met his gaze, and said plainly and simply, " Optimus, buddy, baby, I hate to tell you this but… _**there's no such thing as aliens**_. So you couldn't possibly be what you say you are."

That time it was the man's turn to laugh in my face. At first his shoulders shook and a quiet but deep rumble started in his chest. The rumble grew louder and louder and louder until it boomed out into the air as a thunderous, overwhelming, surprisingly warm laugh. His laughter seemed to reach into me and make my bones shake it was so powerful. Finally after several long moments Optimus looked down at me with a wide grin, his eyes shining with tears. He wiped them and shook his head. " Crystal," he used my first name as he continued to chuckle, " you have absolutely no idea just how wrong you are."

Okay, I admit, I probably shouldn't have gotten mad at him for using my first name to address me instead of my middle because he didn't know that's what I liked, but I was already pretty pissed off at this guy for first treating me like a damsel in distress—which, I hate to admit, is pretty much what I was at the time—and then correcting me and telling I had no business in matters that concerned me; so it only made since that I got on his ass about the name thing too. After all, the sooner he learned, the better, right? Growling like a rabid wolf, I stabbed my index finger in the center of his chest again… hard. " Look, buddy," I hissed, " my name ain't'_**Crystal**_'. It's '_**Artemis**_'! Got it?"

The man gave me another dirty look. " I apologize, _**Artemis**_, I didn't know," his voice was strained, but I could still tell that the apology was sincere.

" Yeah, well now you do," I growled. " Now back to the point, if I'm wrong about aliens and you really are some sort of giant mechanical ET, prove it."

Suddenly electro-blue eyes flashed with anger and very frustrated look shadowed the man's face. " Fine!" he conceded exasperatedly. " Have it your way!" Without warning his hands flashed out and snagged me, one holding me around the middle, the other holding my left shoulder with the palm pressed flat against my birthmark. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips flat against my forehead.

Now you can imagine that the moment he'd taken hold of me I was kicking and screaming for all I was worth, trying to get away (even though, I somehow got this strange sense that he would never actually hurt me) and the same could be said for when I saw him lowering his mouth to my face. But the moment his lips touched my forehead something strange happened. My birthmark beneath his hand suddenly grew very warm—almost hot. A jolt of energy surged through me, making every hair on my body stand up on end with the charge. My skin started to glow with the strange markings again. And then I was seeing flashes of memories—_**his**_ memories—before my eyes. In a matter of a few seconds I witnessed his life; everything from the time of his birth to the time he came to earth and then some. I saw him in his true form. I recognized him from both my vision and my dream that I'd had the day of my encounter with the shard; I recognized him as the giant red and blue flamed being of machine.

Finally he released me. Correction; he practically threw me away from him… or else he got blasted back away from me—I'm not sure which—and we both sat there in complete shock. Both of our breaths were haggard and ragged from the strain and we both stared off into the distance with wide eyes, not quite sure how to comprehend what had just taken place.

After a moment my gaze slowly shifted back to him. " Okay…" I breathed shakily, "… I think… I believe you now." I released a heavy sigh and pressed a hand to my once again throbbing head. " Shit," I moaned, rubbing my eyes. " How'd you know how to do that?"

Optimus continued to stare off into space, panting heavily. " I…" he stammered, "… I don't really know. It was just like… there was something inside my head telling me what to do and… I did it."

" Yeah, well next time, a little warning might be nice."

" I apologize for frightening you. As I've said it was somewhat spontaneous."

I only sighed again. When my headache had left and my breathing and heart rate were back to normal I turned back to him again. I looked him over. " Okay, so here's my next question," I stated after a minute. " If you're supposed to be a giant alien robot, why are you human?"

Optimus looked back at me. A skeptical look came over his face as he studied me. " I'm not quite sure you would believe me if I told you," he stated.

I put my hands on my hips and gave him an offended look. Seriously, after what had just happened he didn't think I was going to believe him? Crap, at that very moment I would've believed that pigs could fly! " Damn it, Prime, you just took me from being a skeptic of aliens to a believer in about three seconds flat! I think I'm convinced enough now to believe whatever story you have to tell me, no matter how screwed up it is."

The humanized 'bot looked me over again, that skeptical look still there. Finally he seemed to decide that I was probably right. " Three… correction four days ago now there was a bright flash in the sky, followed by severe pain that inflicted both me and my team. Later when we awoke we discovered that we were all human."

" Weird," I murmured, surprising myself by being somewhat intrigued by the story. " Why do you think you were all humanized?"

" The flash that proceeded our… alteration came from the AllSpark, so it can only be linked to it."

I groaned. Oh, great, the whole "AllSpark" thing again. " And let me guess, you think I have something to do with this, right?" I inquired, crossing my arms over my chest.

" Considering I had a vision of you on the day of the transformation, I would say that that is a safe bet," Prime answered with a light smirk.

I swear my heart stopped mid-beat when he said that. He'd had a vision of me on the same exact day, and probably at the same exact time, that I'd had a vision of him? That was so creepy on so many different levels! It was like we were a set of frickin' Siamese twins! And what was even weirder is that somehow I felt somehow oddly, inexplicably… connected to this guy in a very strong and direct way. Anyhow, I managed to shake off my surprise and scowl at him again. So he was after me because of this "AllSpark" too—just like Megatron! " Well, then let me lay this out for you right now, dude," I rumbled, pointing yet another accusing finger at him. " I know absolutely nothing about your precious "AllSpark" except for the fact that it happened to crash in the park of my town. For some stupid reason I ran off to investigate it," I was really sorry I'd done that now, " and when I found it I touched a symbol on it that looked like my birthmark and it opened to reveal this shard thing. I touched it, it zapped me, and then turned to dust."

Just like Megatron had done when I told him about what had happened to the shard, Optimus became dead quiet and stared at me with a mixture of horror and disbelief, his electro-blue eyes three times their normal size. All of the color drained from his face. " So…" he finally murmured, booming voice hardly above a whisper, "… the AllSpark is actually… gone?"

" Looks that way," I replied with a shrug.

" But I can still… feel it," Prime said, more to himself than to me. " I can still sense its presence."

" You can sense the presence of this thing?"

" Yes. As the leader of my kind, I am almost directly linked to it."

I could only stare at him wide-eyed and gobstopped. Okay, even _**I**_ had to admit that that was actually pretty awesome.

Optimus seemed to sense my amazement because he slightly smiled at me and chuckled. Then he got to his feet. " Come on," he sighed, offering me his hand. " I believe it's high time we went home."

I stared up at him for a moment in confusion and some alarm. Did he really just say what I thought he said? " '_**We**_'?" I gulped. " What do you mean 'we'?"

" It has come to my attention that your mother will be leaving town for an extended period of time, and that she is in search of a caretaker to watch over both you and your sister until your aunt comes to look after you," the humanized Autobot explained. " And since it would seem that the Decepticons are after you for something you may or may not know about the AllSpark…"

" I already told you I don't know anything about it!" I practically shrieked.

"… it stands to reason that I be your guardian in order to protect you and keep such an occurrence from happening," he finished, giving me a stern look for interrupting him.

I stared at him for a minute longer in complete shock before I started shaking my head, all the while continuing to stare at him. If this guy seriously thought that something like this was going to fly he was dead wrong. No way in hell was I going to let this happen! It was bad enough that I had to have a babysitter while I waited for my wacko aunt to show up to baby-sit me, but to be babysat by some alien? No fuckin' way! For all I knew he could be faking this whole 'Mr. Nice Guy' routine, just waiting for me to turn my back on him so he could knock me out and use his freaky alien probe on my brain to find the information about his stinkin' Spark-All or AllSpark or… whatever the heck it was! I couldn't remember at the moment. " You can't possibly be serious?" I barely spat the words out; feeling like the wind had just been knocked out of me.

Prime just gave me a dead sober look. " Oh, on the contrary, Artemis," he retorted, " I am _**very**_ serious. I have never been more serious about anything in my entire lifecycle." Why did I get the sense that this guy—in spite of how young he looked—had lived a really _**long**_ time?

I looked him up and down again. " Why do you even care about what happens to me anyway?" I finally voiced the big question.

" You are a part of the human race," he answered confidently and without hesitation, " and as such it is my duty to protect you and keep you safe. It is the promise I made when I arrived on this planet."

" You promised to protect, like, sixty billion people that you don't even know?" I asked in disbelief. " Even if they don't deserve it?"

He simply nodded his answer.

I shook my head, dumbfounded. " You are one seriously mental alien, Optimus Prime." And with that I reached up, grasped hold of his hand, and allowed him to help me to my feet.

* * *

**P.S. DO NOT FORGET TO ANSWER THE QUESTION POSED AT THE** **TOP!** :)


	12. Optimus Prime: Nanny?

**Okay, guys, I'm sorry to dump this on you, but I need to vent.**

**I've had a really scrappy day. And all I'm gonna say is that, as a Christian, I'm supposed to love everyone and not hate anyone (obviously I don't follow this), so I'm not saying I hate my class. HOWEVER, I will say this: If I never see another one of their smug, arrogant, egotistical, disrespectful, pretentious, insubordinate, malfunctioning, dumbaft faces again... IT'LL BE TOO MOTHER-FRAGGIN' SOON! After graduation, I don't wanna have another slagging thing to do with those glitch-headed idiots!**

**No don't worry, they didn't bully me (they know better than to do that), and it's not like I'd care if they did—I don't really give a frag what anyone says about me. It just they're such jackafts! They're disrespectful and don't care about anyone but themselves and it's just... ugh!**

**Anyway, sorry. Just please R&R okay? I kinda need a little bit of a pick-me-up. Now on with the story.**

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Well, Pampers melt in a Maytag dryer. Crayons go up one drawer higher. Rewind Barney for the fifteenth time. Breakfast: six... naps at nine. Well, there's bubblegum in the baby's hair... sweet potatoes in my lazy chair. Been crazy all day long... and it's only Monday, Mr. Mom..." Lonestar; _Mr. Mom_

10

Optimus Prime: Nanny?

As we drove on through the dawn hours, I sat wordless in the passenger seat of Optimus' pick-up. Leaning up against the door-panel I gazed out the window at the passing landscape—a boring pastime, considering I couldn't see anything because it was—ya know—still dark outside. We must have driven for about an hour-and-a-half when we finally passed a sign that told us how many more miles were left till we reached Eddyville. I watched as the green reflective marker disappeared into the darkness behind us. The sky was just starting to turn gray in the east. That's when I finally decided to voice the opinions that were on my mind. " You know," I said, looking over at the humanized robot, " there is no way in hell my mother will ever let you be our baby-sitter."

" Is that so?" Optimus questioned, not even looking away from the road. His face was illuminated by the green light from the dashboard, making him—ironically enough—actually look somewhat alien.

" Yeah," I stated.

" And you believe this because?"

" Um… you're a stranger," my voice went up at the end, even though it wasn't a question.

" This is true," Optimus conceded with a nod, " but wouldn't she be hiring strangers to watch over you and your sister anyway, even if it wasn't me?"

I bit my lip and all but slammed my head against the back of the seat. Damn! The alien had be there. Another excuse popped into my head. " Yeah," I agreed, a smirk slowly creeping across my face, " but you're also a guy, and there's no way Mom would ever hire a man of your age to watch over her two young daughters without some form of recommendation." I then looked over at him and crossed my arms over my chest, as my smirk grew even more cunning. " And I ain't gonna put in a good word for ya."

At that, Optimus chuckled deviously. Still not looking away from road, he patted a leather briefcase that was laying between us on the bench seat. " You don't think I come with the highest of recommendations?"

I eyed the case, then looked back at him with something that was between a suspicious glance and a stink-eye. " Lemme guess," I huffed, " the work of your "team"?"

" And she gets it on the first try," Optimus said by way of answer.

I looked back at the briefcase again, my curiosity getting the better of me. " All right, I'll bite," I sighed after a minute or two, " what's in it?"

" Why don't you open it and see for yourself?"

I opened the glove box so that I had some light to look at things, and then grabbed the briefcase. It was unlocked, so I immediately opened it and grabbed the stack of papers out of it. Despite how dark it was, with the faint light of the glove box I didn't have any trouble reading the papers—something to do with my encounter with the AllSpark I'm sure. " 'Name: Tobias Pierce'," I read off the sheet. " Hmm, not a bad alias."

" Thank you."

" 'Age: Thirty-six'." I couldn't help but snicker at that. I didn't know exactly how old he was, but, after having seen his entire life's history, I was almost sure that Prime was much, much, much older than thirty-six, even if he was still in his prime when it came to Cybertronian lifecycles. I continued to read the information on the papers, growing more and more impressed with with the details of the fabrication. When I finally came to the end, even _**I**_ had to admit that this was an excellent lie. And that's what I started to worry about. This was a brilliantly ingenious cover story, and I could see no possible way of cracking it. Not only was he handsome, he was trustworthy (at least that's what it said on his file), responsible, seemed to be nice enough, and had a shining recommendation—even if it was fake. No two ways about it: Optimus Prime was going to win my mother over, and I was going to be stuck with a giant alien robot looking over my shoulder for the next two weeks. Wonderful

* * *

Later that Day;

I don't remember falling asleep during that ride, but apparently I must have, because the next thing I remember, I was waking up on the couch in my living room. Gemma was sitting across from me in a big armchair, reading one of her beloved _Harry Potter _books (I'd never really gotten into the series myself) and was so engrossed in it that she didn't even notice me stir. That was Gem for you. Once she got her nose in a book that she really liked nothing short of the atom bomb could drag her out of it. It was yet another attribute I admired of my baby sister—even if it sometimes did become annoying—and it was something I wished I could possess. Oh, sure, I liked reading and enjoyed it, but Gemma absolutely loved it. It didn't matter what it was; if it had pages and a cover, Gem was drinking it in like it was going out of style. Her intelligence and thirst for knowledge was another thing that set us apart... and I couldn't help but be envious of it as well as proud.

Suddenly I heard footsteps and turned my attention towards the hall.

Mom was the first into the room. Her eyes lit on me and she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth and tears brimming in her eyes. She stood there for several minutes as her chest heaved in and out, like she was trying to fight back a fit of sobs that were threatening to break loose. She couldn't hold them. " Oh, Artemis! Sweetheart, thank God!" She rushed forward and collapsed to her knees beside the couch, arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly, like she was afraid I might disappear again.

Normally, I refused to let my mother hug me unless I was the one who instituted it first (bratty, I know, but I was still angry with her), but this time I didn't care—I was just happy to be home and safe. I threw my arms around her and buried my face in her shoulder. " Mommy..." I sobbed, pulling myself closer.

" Artemis?" Gemma's voice drew my attention.

I looked up and saw my sister, staring at me with a look of relief and felicity. Smiling slightly, I held a hand out to her. " Hey, bug-a-boo."

Gemma threw down her now forgotten book, leapt down from the chair, and streaked across the room, crashing against both Mom and me as she joined our hug. " I thought I'd never see you again," she choked out, her voice muffled as she buried her face in my shoulder and cried.

" Hey, come on, now," I replied, choking on the lump in my throat, " I promised on sister's honor we'd see each other again, didn't I? I don't break that kind of promise, Gem."

Gemma nodded her head. " I know," she replied, " but still..."

I nodded too. " Yeah," I agreed softly, pulling her closer. " I know."

" Well, well, well," another familiar voice came to my ears. " Look who's finally awake."

I looked up yet again to see Officer Jim's partner—Officer David I think is what his name was—walking into the room, looking just as happy to see me as my family. I couldn't help but grin back at him. " Hey, officer," I greeted him. " Good to see ya." Wow, I never thought I'd be saying that to the police!

" Good to see you too, kiddo," Officer David responded with a nod of his balding head—I think he was the senior officer of the duo. " How ya doin' there, Artemis?"

" A lot better, considering I'm back home now," I answered, ignoring the pain in my leg where my stitches were. I heard more clomping coming from the hall and looked passed everyone to see Officer Jim walking into the room, stroking his chin. He had his nose to a handful of frightfully familiar looking papers. My stomach lurched. Were those...? Could those possibly be...? Oh, shit! " _Dear, God,_ **please**___don't let those be what I think they are!_"I silently prayed.

" Well, Ms. Tantaros-Savage," he began, " the background checks have turned up nothing and his references are... well... impeccable to say the least." Officer Jim handed the papers over to my mother. " I see no reason why he couldn't be the guardian of your children while you're away. He seems a decent enough man to me, even without the papers and checks to prove it."

My stomach plunged as I read over my mom's shoulder what was on the papers, even though I already knew who they were for and what they said. I gripped the couch cushions with all my strength and I'm sure all of the color drained from my face. No, no, no, _**no**_! This couldn't be happening! This just couldn't be happening! I wasn't even given time enough to fight for my position: to degrade him: to make my mother send him packing and never return! Mean, I know, but I didn't care! I had no desire whatsoever to have some giant alien robot-turned-human living in the same house as me; _**sleeping**_ just down the hall from me; _**eating**_ the same meals as me;_** making**_ my meals! A new thought entered my paranoia. What if he put some kind of drug in my food that knocked me out, then used some sort of probe on me to extract information from my brain?! **I DID NOT WANT TO BE PROBBED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! **

" _Wait, if he just turned human, does he even know how to cook?_" I asked myself as my reasonable self kicked in. I quickly came to the conclusion that Gemma and I were going to be the ones preparing the food, or else we would be going out or ordering in to eat—my meals were deemed safe. However, I'd have to remember to slide a chair under my doorknob at night now, in order to keep him out while I slept. Either that or I'd have to get a lock and figure out how to install it.

The person in question suddenly stepped into the room. With him he brought two dark blue duffel bags (I couldn't help but notice the small splash of red that was the Autobot insignia on their fronts) slung over his shoulder. The minute he met my eyes, Prime flashed a self-satisfied smirk that only I was able to see.

I death-glared back at him. That arrogant, conniving, egotistical bastard! I made a vow right then and there to make his life an absolute living hell for the next two weeks. Teach him to mess with my turf!

Optimus then looked away from me and took in everyone else the room who still hadn't noticed his presence yet. " Is the decision settled then?" he questioned, drawing everyone's attention. " Or should I pack up my bags and keep driving?"

" Hell, yes!" I exclaimed, drawing a warning glare from everyone, not that I cared. I wanted this 'bot out of my house, whether he was human with perfect papers or not! I didn't like him, I didn't trust him, and I sure as hell was not going to be taking orders from this stranger for the next two weeks, and if he thought otherwise, he had a whole other thing coming.

" Artemis!" Mom reprimanded me harshly.

" You watch your mouth, young lady," Officer Jim replied at the same time.

Mom suddenly looked at him with an expression that was a mix of amazement and wonder. A slight blush crept over her cheeks. " Why thank you, Officer," she thanked him with a soft almost breathy voice.

Officer Jim met her eyes and flashed a pearly white, admittedly sexy grin. " Not at all, ma'am," he responded with something that sounded like a purr in his voice.

My eyebrows shot up as I looked between the two. Wait... did Mom and Officer Jim _**like **_each other?! I looked over at Gemma to inquire if she knew something I didn't, only to see that she had retrieved her book at some point and had her nose buried deep within its contents again. I turned away from her and, for some odd reason, found my own hazel eyes drifting to the electro-blue ones of Prime. He gave me a questioning look and gestured with his eyes between my mother and the policeman. All I could do was shrug in answer. " _First a shard that not only transforms me, but turns me into a wanted person by an alien race, one of said species becoming my baby-sitter, and now my mom making goo-goo eyes with a police officer who's returning them,_" I laid out the situation for myself. " _What on God's-green-earth has happened to my life?_"

" Please excuse my daughter, Mr. Pierce," Mom returned to Prime's previous inquisitions, facing him as she did. " She's simply not keen on the idea of having a baby-sitter, but she'll get used to it. She'll have to or die trying," Mom added, glancing over her shoulder at me with a 'behave-yourself' look.

" Fat chance," I muttered under my breath, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the back of the couch.

Mom shot me another warning glare. " I would be more than grateful for you to look after my daughters for the next two weeks." She turned to Optimus again. " However, I'm afraid I don't have any extra money at the moment to pay you for your services."

Optimus held his hand in the air, palm out, waving off the subject. " That is perfectly all right, ma'am," he dismissed the apology. " A place to sleep and eat for a while is payment enough. Besides, I have plenty of money of my own. And I take no offense in your daughter's misgivings—it is not the first time I have encountered an attitude such as hers."

Mom nodded and stood. " Let me show the house then and talk to you about how things are run around here. I don't want my daughters hoodwinking you while I'm away." And with that she ushered the humanized robot out of the room and down the hall.

Once they had disappeared, Officers Jim and David began to dismiss themselves. " Good to have you back, Ms. Savage," Officer Jim said as he tipped his hat. " We were all worried."

I simply looked at him, wordless. I just couldn't get over the fact that he had flirted with my mother. That image would haunt my dreams. _**Big time**_.

The policemen left and it was just Gemma and me in the living room.

I could here the clomp of Optimus' boots down the hall and the muffled drone of both his and my mother's voice as they talked. I growled in disgust. Of all the people in the world, why did this have to be happening to me?

" Well, he certainly sounds nice," Gemma declared of Optimus, not taking her nose out of the book.

I snorted, sinking further back into the couch. " Nice my ass."


	13. Pushing Boundaries & Learning the Ropes

**Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. I was busy the past couple days and wasn't able to get on here to post up anything. I hope this makes up for it.**

**Brownie points to anyone who can tell what happened to Artemis and/or who Barry is. **

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Get offa my back and into my game! Get outta my way, 'cuz I'm wild and untamed. Get outta my face, or give your best shot! I think it's time you better face the facts. Get offa my back..." Bryan Adams; _Get Off My Back_

11

Pushing Boundaries

Learning the Ropes

_Dear__Diary,_

_ Today hell begins. Optimus Prime—alias: Tobias Pierce—is officially on baby-sitting duty. _

_ Kill. _

_ Me. _

_ Now._

_ My life can't possibly get much worse than this. It's like a fucking living nightmare! Every time I turn around he's there, looking over my shoulder, watching my every move, and he's only been in charge of us for two hours! I CANNOT TAKE THIS! I hate it when people feel like they have to watch me every second of every damn day, and every time I go to tell Prime this, he gets into this big lecture about how the 'cons are still out there and how in danger I am since they believe I still know where this God-forsaken AllSpark is WHEN I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT IT. Okay, Prime, Tobias—whatever the hell you want to be called—I get it! I'm in danger; I'm safer that you're here, but that does not mean you have to keep me on a six inch leash. I am almost fifteen years old for God's sake! I can handle myself. Honestly, if he keeps this 'helicopter-nanny' stuff up, I might just offer myself up to the Decepticons. They can't possibly be any worse than what I have to deal with here with him._

* * *

As I lounged on the window-seat in my room, pouring my latest thoughts and opinions out onto the inviting and trustworthy pages of my diary, I recounted the events of the rest of yesterday and earlier that morning. Yesterday, after Mom had finished giving Optimus the tour of the house and had laid out what was and wasn't to happen around here, she'd sat Gemma and me down for a long talk as Optimus moved his stuff into the house. I'm not going to replay the whole conversation for you: all you need to know is that I was anything but happy and easy to get along with, and by the end of the ordeal, both Mom and Gemma were fed up with me. Not that I cared—serves them right for siding with the alien! Then after a long and rather sleepless night—for _**me**_ anyways—we'd had to get up rather early in order to help Mom with last minute packing and then see her off at eight.

Mom had given us each multiple hugs and kisses and had reminded us to behave and mind Optimus. Oh, no, wait. That was_** me **_she had to remind, not Gemma. I could still remember Mom's words. " It's only for two weeks, honey," she'd told me as she embraced and kissed me. " After that he'll leave and Aunt Clara with be here to look after you two."

" Somehow that doesn't sweeten the deal," I'd mumbled, halfheartedly hugging her back.

Mom had then sighed heavily, unwrapped her arms from around me, put a hand below my chin, and lifted my face to hers. " I know it doesn't, Artemis," she responded with tried patience in her voice, " but we all have to go through times were we wish things were different, and you're no exception. So you're just gonna have to suck it up and live with it for a while, all right?"

I had been about ready to snap something back, but had decided that it wasn't worth the consequence and had bitten my tongue to keep quiet. I'd only nodded.

Mom had grinned and rewarded me with a kiss to the forehead, then turned to Gemma.

I'd watched as she hugged and kissed my sister, who was almost in tears because she'd miss Mom, feeling a little bit saddened by the whole ordeal myself—I mean, come on, she was my mother! I wasn't so heartless and angry as to not miss her. Before I could stop it, a single tear had managed to escape down my cheek. I'd wiped it away and sniffled before anyone took notice... or so I'd thought until, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Optimus looking at me. I'd almost forgotten that he was outside with us to see Mom off. I'd turned my head and looked up at him and what I'd seen had thrown me for the biggest loop this side of the galaxy. Optimus had actually looked sympathetic! For a moment, all I had been able to do was stare at him in sheer amazement, but then I'd shook it off and turned away from him, my arms crossed over my chest. If the alien thought I was weak, he had another thing coming!

A few minutes later, Mom had said good-bye to all of us, had reminded Optimus of a few things, had gotten into her jam packed Explorer, and had driven off, waving at us as she pulled away. Gem and I had waved until she was out of sight, Gemma bawling her eyes out, and the rest of the morning I'd spent locked in my room—far away from that which is known as 'The Super-Nanny Menace.'

After thinking over the morning's events, I went back to my diary.

* * *

_In all honesty, I'm not even sure which is worse: dealing with Prime, or dreading the arrival of my aunt, Clara. I mean, on the one hand, Prime's only here for two weeks, but on the other, Aunt Clara doesn't think I know the location of an ancient relic of an alien species. I don't know what to think. Maybe I'll just become like Two-Face and use a coin to make my decisions for me. Things couldn't possibly get any worse if I did._

* * *

Suddenly, a knock on my door jolted me out of my contemplating, " Artemis?" the voice was unmistakably that of Optimus'. I groaned and cursed under my breath. I was about ready to snap something rude and demeaning at him when I caught myself. "_ Now, now, Artemis,_" I soothed myself. " _Be civil._" Biting back my compulsive rudeness, I shouted back, " Yeah, what'd'ya want?!" Oh, come on! It wasn't like I was cussing at him like I wanted to! Seemed civil enough to me.

" I'm making dinner," came the simple, calm reply.

" Not hungry," I answered back. Truth be told, I was starving, but I didn't want to go out there to meet The Menace.

" That may be, but I would very much appreciate it if you joined us regardless."

" Since when do you think I care about what _**you**_ like?"

" And I'm sure _**Gemma**_ would like for you to join us too."

That hit me. My baby sister had always been my button to push to get me to do something. I'd even eaten beetle one time as a bet because some kid at school had said that if I did he'd give me twenty bucks and if I didn't he'd bust Gem's nose. Disgusting as it was and as much as I hated it—not to mention, wanted to puke at the mere suggestion of it—I'd still done it just for that reason. Long story short, I got the twenty bucks, the kid ended up with a busted nose of his own for, first, threatening my sister, and, second, making me eat the bug, and I'd gotten suspended for two weeks. It was worth it watching him cry. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I didn't throw up.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Prime had called me out by using my baby sister, and I growled and cursed under my breath. He had me beat. Slamming my diary shut, I hooked the cord around the button, set it down on the seat beside me, stood, and sulked to the door. When I opened the door, Optimus was on the other side, waiting for me. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked rather pleased with himself. I slammed my door and glowered up at him (that was a _**long**_ way up!). " Low blow, alien," I snarled, crossing my arms over my chest as well and resting my weight on my left leg. " Effective move, but shit-low blow."

The humanized robot just chuckled evilly at me and turned away, walking off down the hall to the stairs.

I trailed several feet behind, grumbling under my breath and calling him every foul name in the book. When we reached the kitchen, Optimus headed over to the refrigerator, and I took a spot beside Gemma who was seated at the table, still reading Harry Potter. I watched Prime intently.

After a few minutes of rummaging through the 'fridge's interior and grumbling to himself in Cybertronian (Gemma was too wrapped up in her book to notice), Optimus finally pulled out of the fridge some Kraft singles. He set them down on the counter beside the stove and then went to the pantry. Another few moments of looking and speaking in his native language, and he came away with a can of tomato soup. He set that beside the cheese then grabbed the open loaf of bread that was in the middle of the table and set it beside the cheese and soup and stood there looking at them. I'd never seen anyone look so lost in my life.

I couldn't help the smirk that pulled up my lips and the amused chuckle that left my throat. " You're trying to make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, aren't ya?" I finally inquired.

Not looking at me, the alien simply nodded.

I exchanged a glance with Gemma, who had since turned her attention away from her book when Optimus had made a grab for the bread, then turned back to the confused man. " Do you even know how?" I asked the question that was most likely rhetorical.

" I've researched it on the internet," Prime answered, still not looking away from the patiently waiting food. That's when he turned to us. " However, I've come to find that reading about doing something and actually doing the act are two separate things entirely," he admitted, looking somewhat sheepish.

I chuckled and shook my head. For someone who seemed to be so smart, he sure was making himself look really dumb right about now, but even I couldn't hold this against him. I mean, he'd only_** just **_turned into a human not too long ago. That fact, along with the fact that I heard Gemma's stomach growl, caused me to take pity on the humanized robot. So, sighing, I grabbed the butter, stood, and strode towards the stove. " Okay, Prime," I said his name just soft enough so only he could here, " here's the deal. When making a grilled cheese sandwich, the most important part is to do what the name implies: grill the sandwich. Lemme show you." I knelt down, opened up the cabinet where we kept our pots and pans, pulled one out, set it on one of the burners, turned on said burner, and sliced of a chunk of butter to melt in the pan and oil it up. With the butter sizzling and melting, I turned to the supplies that Optimus had set out. I took out a slice of bread and started to butter it up. " Hey, Gem," I called over my shoulder, " can you get me a plate, please?" A few seconds later a plate was placed in front of me as my sister joined us by the stove. " Thanks." I placed the bread slice, buttered-side-down, on the plate, took some more butter and proceeded to butter the other side. Both sides butter, I unwrapped a cheese slice and slapped it on top. I then buttered another bread slice. " Now it goes in the skillet," I said to Prime.

The man simply nodded, watching my every move with careful deliberation.

I'm not gonna lie, it felt really weird teaching an adult all of this, even if said adult had previously been an alien robot who didn't eat human food. Just then, I caught myself wondering what he had eaten when he'd been a robot. That was one of the few things I'd never found out from the memory transfer. Shrugging and shaking my head, I decided to leave it till later and ask him... if I really ever ended up caring enough to. I plopped the sandwich in the skillet and then made another sandwich to have ready to go when the first finished toasting. Then I knelt down again and brought out a small pot. " Okay, now," I continued to verbalize as I taught Optimus, " the tomato soup is the easiest part. All ya gotta do is open the can with a can opener," I reached over and picked up the can opener that Gemma had intuitively brought over along with the plate and fixed it to the can of soup, being sure to show the humanized robot how it worked, and opened it up. " Now when you lift up the lid," I added, using my homely-looking fingernails to grab the sharp-edged circle and fold it back, " be sure to not cut yourself, because it hurts like a bitch if you do and you might have to get stitches which hurt even worse." I heard Optimus reply with a soft, barely audible chuckle. I poured the cans contents into the pot, filled the can with water again and sloshed it around to get all the extra soup off the sides, poured it in, and then poured in about a half-can of milk. Onto the stove the pot went and I switched on the burner and left it to come to a boil. By that time, the one side of the sandwich was toasted, so I flipped it over to the other side and made another sandwich.

This process went on, with me teaching Optimus every step of the way, until finally we were all seated at the table with mugs of creamy, steaming tomato soup and crispy grilled cheese sandwiches. I smirked proudly at myself and then dug into the food, Gemma right along with me. I was about half-way through my first half of the sandwich when I realized that Optimus wasn't eating. Putting my grilled cheese back on the sandwich I looked at the robot/human and eyed him carefully. He was just sitting there, staring at his food, looking unsure about it. " What's wrong?" I inquired, a little bit offended that he wasn't eating my cooking. I mean, I may not have been the best cook in the world, but it wasn't _**that**_ bad, okay? " You tryin' to digest it mentally, or somethin'?"

Prime's uncertain eyes flashed to mine and he quickly shook his head, probably under the impression that he was hurting my feelings by not eating. A wise assumption, on his part. " No," he replied calmly. " No, it's not that it's just... I'm still not used to... this type of food."

" _He's not used to eating human food,_" I translated to myself. Not a real big surprise, once I thought about it. As I've stated before, he'd only been a human for like, what, four of five days?

Gemma, who had remained completely oblivious to the concept of out guardian's true identity, didn't understand. " What do you mean you're not used to it?" she questioned innocently enough, cocking an eyebrow.

Still looking at me, Optimus seemed to freeze up for a minute. His electro-blue eyes grew to twice their size and he met my gaze. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting questions like this. Leave it to Gem to nose into someone's secrets. Prime's eyes suddenly met mine, silently begging me for help.

I still didn't like him and I realized that I had made a vow to myself to make his life absolute hell, but something inside told me that keeping Prime's secret between him and me was the best and safest way to go about things. If Gemma wasn't in the know, the 'Cons, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn't have any reason to go after her. " Uh..." I fumbled around for an explanation. Finally one hit me. " He's... he's just used to Army food, Gem," the words rushed out of my mouth. Not really a lie, considering Optimus had been with a secret branch of the U.S. Army, and being human, if only for a few days, he probably would've, at some point, eaten Army food. " Ya know, all that dehydrated stuff? That's what he means."

" Oh, okay," was my baby sister's reply. She went back to eating her dinner.

In unison, Prime and I released breaths we hadn't even realized we'd been holding. The man looked up and met my gaze again. " Thank you," he mouthed the words, looking just as appreciative.

I only nodded at him, then went back to my food. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as he continued to sit there and stare at his food for a moment before he finally picked up the sandwich, slowly lifted it to his lips, and tentatively took a bite. Looking back up, I watched his face. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the tell-tale expression that meant he enjoyed it. " It tastes even better when you dip it in your soup," I informed him.

The humanized robot looked at me for a moment, then he turned back to his food, slowly dunked the tip of his sandwich into the soup and bit it off. He looked even more pleased at the taste. Once he had swallowed, he eagerly dunked the grilled cheese into the mug again and took an even bigger bite. Unfortunately, his sandwich had been the last to cook and it was still rather hot, as was the soup. " Ow! Hot! Hot! **HOT!**" His 'hots' came out more like 'haws'. Without warning, Prime then jumped up from the table, knocking over his chair, and dashed to the sink. He threw on the cold water and stuck his head underneath of it and let the water run through his mouth, trying to cool down the burning sandwich and his scorching tongue.

Gemma and I busted a gut! " Serves you right!" I laughed as Optimus came sulking back to the table. " That's what you get for being a careless greedy-guts. Not so big of bites and blow on it to help cool it down. Sheesh, I feel like I'm talking to a three-year-old. Ouch!" I was whacked in the backside of the head as Prime passed me. I glared up at him.

" Serves you right," he flipped it around on me, giving me a stern, warning look. " Watch your mouth, kid." He sat back down.

I stuck my tongue out at him and quickly jerked away when he reached out, as if to snatch it. He glowered at me and I glowered at him. Then we went back to eating our dinner.

The rest of the mealtime passed without anyone saying much more of anything or doing much of anything. It wasn't until we were all clearing the table when Optimus finally spoke. He didn't say it right away. He just looked at me for several minutes, and then he came out and asked, " Artemis, what is this?" He carefully gestured to my face.

My eyes fell to the stack of plates that was in my hands and I felt my cheeks go beet red, partially from embarrassment, but mostly from the rage of the memory. A slight phantom pain passed through me. I knew that he was referring to the ever-so-slight knot near the back of my jaw and the small, round scars from the wire that had been used to wire my jaw shut. I gulped and bit my lip, holding back the sudden tears. " It's nothing," I just managed to rasp out.

Optimus must have heard something in my voice, because he immediately looked sorry for asking and backed off. " I'm sorry," he responded softly. " I didn't mean to pry."

" It's okay," was all I could say.

Gemma looked at me in confusion for a moment. You know, for a kid who could seem so damn smart, she really was pretty dense at times. " It's not nothing," she pointed out, drawing a confused look from Optimus and a glare from me. " That's from when Barry..."

" It's nothing," I repeated a bit more loudly, glaring even harder at my sister.

" But, Artemis..."

" It's... _**nothing**_," I enunciated very slowly and carefully, looking Gem dead in the eyes, silently telling her she better shut up or else.

Finally she got the message and zipped her lip.

Prime looked between us for a moment, an eyebrow cocked like he was trying to figure out what had just happened between us. Finally he shrugged. Putting his pile of dishes in the sink, the man brushed his hands together and turned to face us. " If you girls don't mind, I have to step out on the porch to make a call." I guessed the call he had to make was to his team, letting them know what was going on and that he was one step closer to finding the AllSpark.

I blew some air up into my bangs. " Yeah, sure, just leave us to clean up the rest of the kitchen," my voice dripped with cynicism. Prime gave me a look and I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was a brat, but I really didn't give a fuck at this point. " Whatever. Go ahead, make your phone call. We'll finish up in here."

Optimus only nodded. He then fished a cell phone out of the pocket of his utility pants and then walked out of the room to the porch to have more privacy.

* * *

Artemis' presumption had been correct. The phone call Optimus had placed had been to N.E.S.T headquarters in order to let them know what was happening. When he'd finished with updating N.E.S.T., Prime entered the house again, slipping his phone in a pocket of his pants, and made his way to the living room where he planned on relaxing and switching on the news. As he passed the kitchen however, he heard the sound of hushed voices. The mech-turned-man knew that it was impolite to eavesdrop, but there was just something about these girls that was so interesting—especially Artemis—and curiosity got the better of him. So, as silently and carefully as he could, he sidled up until he was right next to the opening to the kitchen, pressed his back as flat as it would go against the wall, and listened intently.

" But, Artemis," the voice speaking now was Gemma's, " what about your nightmares?"

" My nightmares are my business," the older girl spat acidly. " He doesn't need to know about 'em. Besides, I haven't had a really bad one for a long time now."

" But you still have them," Gemma pointed out. " Don't you think you should tell him so he can help..."

" I don't _**want**_ his help!" Artemis hissed. " I don't _**need**_ his help. I'll be fine dealing with it on my own."

" But, Artemis..."

" If there comes a time when he has to know, Gem, then he'll be made known. But for right now, let's just keep it between you and me, all right?"

Silence.

" Good," Artemis' voice returned, making Optimus realize Gemma must have nodded her agreement. " Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going back up to my room. I wanna stay are far away from the Menace as possible." There was the sound of footsteps that made Optimus scootch a little further down the wall so he wouldn't be noticed.

" Artemis?" Gemma's voice called out.

The footsteps stopped.

" What Barry did to you and what he almost did... it still hurts doesn't it?"

There was a long pause. When the older girl finally spoke, her voice was very soft, almost inaudible, quivering, and full of both fear and pain. " Yes." There was a sniffle and then the footsteps resumed, coming a little bit faster now. Seconds later, Artemis was emerging from the kitchen, face lowered to the floor so her hangs covered her eyes. Her hand was pressed to her lips, like she was trying to hold something—perhaps sobs—in. The fourteen-year-old hurried down the hall to the stairs. However, despite how fast she was going, Optimus was still able to catch it. The almost imperceptible sheen of a tear trickling down her cheek.

* * *

**BTW, not that it's important or anything, but I'm sitting here singing along to Imagine Dragon's 'Radioactive'... AND TOTALLY ROCKING IT! XDDD**


	14. Making Connections

**Okay, so no Brownie points to anyone because nobody guessed at who Barry is and what he did to Artemis. Well... except to Alice Gone Madd. She made an attempt at guessing and kinda, sorta got it. So half a Brownie point to you, girl. ;)**

**Sunstreaker's Squishy—Thanks, I'll have to check it out. :)**

**Okay, just a note. This is the last full chapter I have completely written for this fic, so it's gonna be a little while before I update again. Sorry. ^^;**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" And I want a moment to be real... wanna touch things I don't feel! Wanna hold on... and feel I belong. And how... can the world want me to change? They're the ones that stay the same! They don't know me... 'cuz I'm not here..." John Rzeznik; _I'm Still Here_

12

Making Connections

" I gotta be honest," I grumbled as Gemma and I walked through the gateway into Weeping Willow park, " I really don't like this place anymore." It had been a couple hours since dinner and Prime had suggested that we go spend some time outside, as he had researched (okay, he didn't really say he'd researched it, but I know that he did) that fresh air was healthy and beneficial to children. I secretly thought he just wanted to get us out of the house just so he could search for the shard, but I couldn't prove it and there was a little part of me that felt guilty for thinking such things because Prime probably just wanted what was best for us. But it was a _**small **_part. Still, despite the fact that I wanted to stay and keep him out of my room—where I speculated he would most like search first if he really was looking—I also desperately wanted to get away from the humanized menace. So I'd agreed, and after grabbing my diary (there was _**no **_way in hell I'd leave that lying around where he could nab it!), Gem and I had headed down to the park. However, now with the memories of the shard flooding back into my conscious, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be here, or at home keeping an ever-watchful eye on Prime.

" Why?" Gemma questioned, giving me a confused look.

" Because of..." I swallowed my words. I'd been about to tell Gem that I didn't like the park because of what had happened last time and that what happened last time had been the cause of the chain of events that had happened recently, one of those events being the Nanny Menace back at home. But then I'd remembered. Gemma didn't know the entire situation. She knew about the shard thing, but she didn't know that it had been the cause of my kidnapping and Optimus' presence. And it would be better to keep it that way. " Just because," I said. Thank God I'd conditioned Gem to the point that whenever I answered something with a 'Just because' she knew not to question any further.

" Oh," was all my little sister replied, letting it slip just like she'd been taught to do.

I quietly released a relieved sigh. Shit, that was a close one!

When we came to the willow tree, I told Gemma when we'd be heading back home and waved her off to go and do whatever she wanted. Then I retreated to the cool shade of the willow tree and laid down in the grass on my back. Even though I had my diary along, I didn't really feel like writing, so I set it under my head as a sort of pillow—nobody would be able to take it without me knowing it—and closed my eyes. I'd been laying there for maybe fifteen-twenty minutes when suddenly I heard footsteps coming in my directions. I ignored them. The steps kept coming closer, but I still tuned them out. Suddenly they stopped, and I could feel a presence right beside me, but I still didn't open my eyes. " This shade's taken," I mumbled.

" You mean you couldn't possibly share it?" a boy's voice answered.

My stomach did flip-flops and my heart skipped a beat. I knew that voice! That amazingly, impossibly smooth and attractive voice. My eyes opened and sure enough, Bryce McCoy was standing there, gazing down at me and giving me that friendly, pearl-white grin of his. I couldn't help but grin back as I sat up. " Hey, Bryce!" I greeted him with a laugh. " _Maybe this park isn't such a bad place after all_," I thought to myself. " What're you doin' here?"

" I could ask you the same thing," he returned, still smiling. He motioned to the shady area. " You mind if I sit down, or will you really not share the shade?"

My face blushed as I remembered my comment from earlier. " Oh," I giggled sheepishly. " No, I was just kidding. Go right ahead."

" Thanks," he replied gratefully, flopping down beside me.

" _Beside __**me**__!_" I couldn't help but think giddily. Oh, cut me a break! If you had seen this guy, you'd be damn excited too, no matter how much a tomboy you were!

" Haven't seen ya around for a while," the boy commented as he moved around to get comfortable. He ran his eyes over me for a moment. " You look different."

I didn't know whether to say thanks or not, so I just went with a, " Yeah, I guess."

" Contacts?"

Crap, that's right! Last time we'd seen each other, I'd been in glasses. " Uh... yeah," I fibbed. " Something like that."

" So you okay after the..." Bryce looked uncomfortable as he brought up the topic of my kidnapping, "... w-well, you know."

I shrugged. " Yeah, I guess," I repeated. " I mean, it was really freaky, but they didn't do anything to me." One big, fat, juicy lie.

" Any idea why they abducted you?"

" Nope." Another lie.

" Where'd they take you?"

" Some abandoned building up-state."

" How'd you get back?"

I went into the whole tale about how Prime—oh, wait, _**Tobias**_—had come to my rescue.

" Wow," Bryce whistled after I was finished. " Good thing he showed up then, huh?"

At that, I snorted. " Not really," I grumbled. " The dude's my baby-sitter now."

" Baby-sitter?" Bryce snagged onto the word and quirked an eyebrow. " You need a baby-sitter?"

" Well, no," I rushed on to say, knowing that there could be absolutely nothing attractive about a girl who still needed a baby-sitter to look after her. " _**I **_don't, specifically. Gemma does, and even then she wouldn't need one if it weren't for the fact that our mom was gonna be away for a month and this is still a new town to us. The whole kidnapping thing doesn't help the fact either."

" No, I wouldn't think so," Bryce agreed seriously. After a moment he asked, " So what's he like?"

" What? Who?" I asked back. I'd sorta been zoning out, getting lost in those eyes of his. Those fucking gorgeous blue-gray eyes...

" Tobias," Bryce clarified, not noticing my staring—thank God! " What's he like?"

" Oh," I couldn't keep the distaste out of my voice. " He... could be worse. I mean, he's a respectable guy, and he's responsible." Wow, was I actually giving credit to the alien? " And, I'll give him one thing: he's quite the looker—the dude kinda looks like Gerard Butler."

" Who?"

" Ya know, the guy who plays Leonidas in _300_?"

" Ah, okay. I know who you're talking 'bout now." The boy gave me a sly smile. " I'm sure you don't mind that too much then."

I gazed slyly back at him. " Just what are you insinuating, McCoy?"

Bryce's teasing grin became even wider. " Oh, nothing," he replied, holding his hands up as if to ward of conflict. " Nothing at all."

" Because if you're implying that I'm one of those types of girls, you are dead wrong. Dead wrong."

Bryce laughed. " Well then, just what type of girl are you?"

" I'm a tomboy with maybe a hint or two of a girly streak who appreciates and is not averse to a good-looking man." Once again Bryce began to laugh and I laughed right along with him. That was when I decided that even if I could never have Bryce as my own, at least I could have him as my friend, and that was good enough for me. I small part of me still couldn't help but wish it'd be different though.

For the next hour, Bryce and I sat there in the shade of the willow tree, talking, sharing jokes, and laughing. The more time I spent with him the nicer and cooler he became. Also the more time I spent with him, the deeper I fell for his muscles, eyes, voice, laugh, and, above all, personality. " _Goddamn it, he's such a sweet guy_," I couldn't help but think to myself. " _Why does he have to be Savannah's?_" Before I could stop it, the question was slipping out of my mouth. " How's a nice guy like you end up with a girl like Savannah?" My eyes widened and I immediately slapped my hand over my mouth, my face flushing and then paling. How the fuck could I have said something like that?! Great, now I was going to lose Bryce, and I wouldn't have him as anything—friend or otherwise! Smooth move, Artemis. _**Real**_ smooth!

For what felt like an eternity, Bryce just sat there and stared at me, his face emotionless. That scared me even more since I couldn't tell if he was angry or not. Finally he sighed and shrugged. " Honestly," he said, " I'm not even sure I know myself. We've been neighbors since we were little and we used to go to the same baby-sitter and everything, but we were never actually friends." He snorted and smirked. " To tell you the truth, I always thought of her as a spoiled brat."

" _Hmm, I wonder why?_" I kept the cynical remark inside my head... where it belonged.

" Then in junior high," Bryce continued, " something just... happened. We've been off and on since then." Maybe it was just me, but there was some sort of tone in his voice that sounded tired and weary, like the relationship was draining and tiresome. Suddenly Bryce turned his eyes back on me. " Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. " I dunno. Just what I said I guess. You're a nice guy and Savannah's... well, no offense, but she just seems like a big, fat, head-up-her-ass bitch. At least that's how she's acted to me."

Bryce then snorted and laughed which made me feel a bit more relieved. " She can be one at that," he agreed with a nod, " that's for sure. She's just gotta be in control of everything and everyone, and anyone who threatens her in any way is her enemy for life."

I couldn't help but snort with cynicism. " Yeah, tell me about it."

Bryce gave me a sorrowful look. " Has she been that rude to you?"

" No more so than other kids from the other places I've moved to have been, I guess," I answered with a shrug. " But still."

Bryce looked down at the grass and plucked at it. " I'm sorry," he whispered the apology and I could tell that he was genuinely sorry for his girlfriend's behavior. " If I'd known..."

" There'd still be nothing you could do," I cut in, giving him a grave and serious look. " Don't put her wrong-doings on your conscience, Bryce. She's your girlfriend, not your puppet. You can't control everything she does and she can't be within your jurisdiction all the time. So just let it go. I can handle her—believe me; I've had plenty of practice with kids like her. You don't have to worry."

Bryce gave me that friendly smile of his. " Thanks, Artemis," he said, voice soft.

Once again my stomach did a flip-flop. Was it me, or was there something in his tone and his eyes that could possibly, maybe be considered affection? " You-you're welcome," I stammered, blushing slightly. What in hell was this guy doing to me?

Suddenly a voice grabbed our attention. " Bryce! Bryce, where are you, babe?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes—I knew that voice.

Bryce didn't seem all that thrilled by it either. " Over here, Savannah!" he called back, much to my dismay. " Under the willow!"

" Does she always call for you like you're a dog?" I mumbled, unable to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

" Just when she wants me but can't find me," my friend answered.

" And how often is that?"

There was a long pause. " Let's not discuss it."

That was answer enough for me.

A minute later, Savannah was in the shade of the tree as well, making the space very crowded in my opinion. As soon as she saw me, little Miss Prissy-bitch crinkled her nose in disgust. " What is _**she **_doing here?" the beauty queen demanded, stomping towards us with a rigid finger stabbed at me.

" It's impolite to point," I commented as casually as possible, just because I knew it'd get her ire up and stirring. Just as I suspected, fire almost came out her flared nostrils and smoke out her ears. I smirked cockily. She didn't look so beauty-pageant worthy now!

" Shut the fuck up!" she snapped back at me.

I waved a hand out in front of me and bowed as though I was before royalty. " Whatever you say, Queen Possessive of the Cranky Pants." I honestly have no idea where that came from, so don't ask. But even if it wasn't the greatest comeback, it got Bryce to laugh, which made me grin even bigger and pissed off Savannah even more.

" Shut up, Bryce!" she screeched at her boyfriend.

Bryce immediately did just that.

Taking a few deep breathes, Savannah seemed to be in better control of her temper. " Now come on," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. " I'm hot and I want some frozen yogurt."

Bryce let his head fall back in exasperation or exhaustion (I'm not sure which) and released a long-suffering sigh. " Whatever you say, babe," he replied monotonously like some sort of automaton. Then he stood and began to dismiss himself. Suddenly he stopped mid-stride and turned back to me with that same good-natured grin he always gave me. Touching the index and middle fingers of his right hand to his temple, he saluted me with a friendly wink. " Good talkin' with you, Artemis," he said. " See ya around, huh?"

I smiled back and shrugged. " Like I'm goin' anywhere?" I answered with a small laugh.

Bryce chuckled and then finally walked off.

I watched him until he was out of sight then turned back to face a fuming Savannah Peterson. Standing up, I crossed my arms over my chest and placed a foot on my diary so she couldn't steal it, and settled my weight on my other leg. " What?" I asked innocently, but giving her a crooked sneer that contradicted it.

She was right in my face with her finger in my chest in the blink of an eye. " You stay away from him," she rasped, her voice venomous. " You got that, rat-face?"

" _Rat-face, huh?_" I thought to myself, not the least bit phased. " _That's a new one_."

" Bryce is _**mine**_!" Savannah continued to fume as she kept trying to stab a hole in my sternum with her manicured nail. " _**Not yours**_, understand?"

I gave her a fake look of disbelief and shock. " Are you actually _**threatened**_ by me, Savannah?" I teased, my smile becoming even more crooked.

The older girl suddenly pulled back, looking somewhat insulted. " Threatened by _**you**_?" she blanched. " Hardly! I just wanna make sure you know your place when it comes to Bryce."

" _Yep, totally threatened_," I concluded, but said nothing. Rolling my eyes, I moved my hands to my hips and dropped the smirk. " Well, I hate to break it to you, Savannah, but this is America—Land of the Free? So if I wanna take a stand and change my "place" with Bryce, I can do exactly that."

Savannah looked at me, aghast. " Why you slimy little..."

" What's'a'matter, 'Vannah?" I patronized, getting that deadly gleam, that I got when I knew I was onto something, in my eyes and another evil smirk on my lips. " Afraid Bryce might trade you in for me?"

The girl glared. " As if! You don't know anything about Bryce."

" I know more about him than you think I do."

" Oh, yeah? Like what?"

" Well for starters, I know that he doesn't seem to be the kinda guy who'd stick with controlling, possessive, bottle-blonde, steal-all-your-money-away bimbos for the rest of his life."

Savannah's glare became even more dangerous. " How dare you..." she rasped, her body trembling with rage.

I leaned in so that my face was no more than an inch away from hers and glared her right in the eyes. " Yes," I snarled back. " I _**do**_ dare."

Savannah was about ready to snap something else back when all of a sudden Gemma came dashing into the shade with the Frisbee she'd brought in order to play Frolf (do not ask '-_-).

" Artemis, you wanna come and throw around the Frisbee with... oh," my sister dropped off once she saw who else was there. She backed up a bit and hid her face behind the disc so that she was just peeking over the top of it. Her brown eyes nervously switched back and forth between us.

For several long minutes, Savannah and I did nothing but stand there in our staring contest, trying to glower each other into submission. Finally she caved and began to stomp away. " This isn't over, Savage," she hissed.

" Wouldn't count on it," I replied, watching after her.

Without warning, right as she passed my sister, that bitch reached out, ripped the Frisbee away from Gem, turned back around to face me with a vengeful scowl on her face, and tossed the purple disc as high up into the branches of the tree as possible. Gemma let out a cry of 'hey!' and I responded at the same time with a 'what the hell was that for?!' " That's what I think of you!" Savannah spat before spinning back around on her ugly pumps and strutting off with an I-win-and-I'm-ten-times-better-than-you sway in her step.

My hackles raised. I hated that bitch—I seriously hated that bitch! I was about ready to storm after her and rip her a new one when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught Gemma approaching the tree, looking up into the branches. She was going to try to climb up and get it. I hurried towards her. " Forget it, Gem," I said, pulling her away from the trunk. " You're not climbing up there. You might fall and hurt yourself and then where would we be?"

My baby sister crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and gave me that same stubborn look that I, too, used. " I'm not leaving without my Frisbee, Artemis," she stated.

Groaning, I rolled my eyes and sighed. " Fine," I huffed. " I'll climb up and get it. You stay here and watch my diary; make sure nobody runs off with it." I turned towards the trunk and began to scale it. " And don't read it either," I called back over my shoulder and I made my way up, up, up the trunk. After several minutes of getting caught, poked, scratched, and scraped, I finally made it up the tree and found the Frisbee. " Got it!" I bellowed out once I saw it. Climbing a bit higher I grabbed it. " Throwing it down!" I let the plastic disc drop to the ground below, then I turned around on the branch I was balancing on and began to prepare to make my own descent.

That's when I remembered how much I hated heights. " Whoa!" I exclaimed, bracing myself against the tree. " This is a whole lot h-higher than I thought." I was suddenly hit with vertigo and the whole world seemed to be spinning dangerously out of control. Panicking, I threw my arms around the trunk and hung on for dear life.

I...

Was...

Paralyzed.

" Artemis?" Gemma's voice carried up to me through the leaves and branches. She sounded worried. " You okay?"

" H-h-high," I managed to call back. I swallowed hard and wet my lips, squeezing my eyes shut as I did. " R-really, really high." I hugged my best friend, Mr. Tree Trunk, even harder.

" Just don't look down," Gem suggested.

" Uh-uh," I stammered. " Uh-uh. T-too h-h-h-high."

" Well, what are you gonna do?"

That's when I caught myself saying something I would never have expected myself to say in a million years. " O-Optimus..." I whispered.

" Huh?"

" T-Tobias," I managed to remember Prime's alias in my terrified state. " R-run and get Tobias, Gem." My legs started to wobble dangerously and my arms began to tremble. " Hurry!" With that said, the sound of running footsteps reached my ears and I knew that Gemma was doing just that. A fearful tear found its way out of the corner of my eye and trickled down my cheek. I'd never wanted Prime so bad since meeting him. " Please."

* * *

Gemma raced as fast as her little legs would carry her down the street towards home. Artemis' diary was held tight in her grasp. Her lungs burned; she wasn't used to running so far so fast, but she didn't slow down. Her big sister was in trouble! She had to get home and get Tobias—for Artemis' sake, she _**had**_ to!

Finally she'd reached Sycamore street and a few minutes later, she was barreling up the sidewalk, leaping up the porch steps, and bursting through the front door. " Toby!" she shouted, running down the hall. " Toby!" The nine-year-old found the man sitting in the recliner in the living room, watching the news.

Optimus sat up immediately and turned all his attention on the younger Savage sister. He quickly examined her. She was panting, sweaty, and looking pale and scared. The Prime knew that for the child to look like that, there had to be something wrong with Artemis. Quickly he stood and was across the room and kneeling in front of her in one stride. He put his hands on her shoulders. " What is it, Gemma?" he questioned, voice and eyes worried. " What's wrong? Where's your sister?"

" She... she's what I came..." the girl drew in a deep breath of air, "... to... to talk to you... about." She paused for a moment to try and gain her breath and then she was staring straight into his eyes, her own glassy with fear. When she started talking, her mouth was moving a mile a minute. " WewereattheparkandArtemiswasfighting-withSavannahandallofasuddenSavannahgrabbedmyFrisbeeandthrewitupintoatreeand-Artemiswentafteritand..."

" Whoa, slow down there," Optimus cut her off, putting a hand up to stop her. He was fairly sure he'd only understood half of what she'd said. And who the pit was this Savannah? " Artemis and another girl were fighting," he said slowly, trying to break down Gemma's rambling.

The child nodded.

" And then this other girl threw your Frisbee up into a tree?"

Another nod.

" And Artemis climbed up to get it."

Thrice with the nods. " And now she's stuck up the tree and she can't get down!" Gemma cried, tears starting to shine in her eyes. " She's scared, Toby. She's really scared! She doesn't like heights."

Turning this new information over in his head, Optimus nodded. Then he quickly stood and marched to the door, Gemma right on his heels, the diary still in her hands. Hurrying out the door, the man and the girl jumped into the blue and red-striped pick-up, roared the engine, pulled out of the driveway, and hurried back down town towards the park.

* * *

I don't know exactly how long I was up in that tree; it felt like endless hours, but in actuality it probably wasn't even an hour. All I knew is that I was horrified at the thought of falling to the ground below and ending up back in the hospital. I hated hospitals━not necessarily the people, just the fact that they were where I'd been forced to be far too often: first with Gemma and then myself…. Anyway, I didn't like hospitals: point made. It didn't help that the longer I stayed up there the more unsteady my legs seemed to become and more tired my arms became from hanging onto the tree. Sweat was running down my forehead and getting in my eyes, making them burn, but I didn't dare let go for even a second in order to wipe it from my eyes. " Goddamn it, Gemma!" I bellowed. " What the hell is taking you so fucking long?! Whoa-whoa!" I hugged the tree more tightly and closed my eyes. " Okay, Artemis, just breathe," I tried to soothe myself, but it didn't really work. " Just breathe and don't look down. Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down…" I chanted it like it was my mantra. " Shit, I wish Gem and Prime would hurry up and get here!"

Several more minutes passed and that's when I heard the sound of running footsteps again, except instead of one pair━Gemma's━there were two, and one of them sounded like a pair of combat style boots. And then there were voices below me. " Artemis?" Optimus called up into the tree. I'd never been so happy to hear his voice.

" Still here," I responded, eyes still squeezed tightly shut.

" I'm coming up for you," the humanized robot informed me. " Don't move."  
" Duh," I muttered, more to myself than to him. I gulped and leaned my forehead against the trunk, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the bark digging into my skin. Soon enough I heard rustling and grunting coming up the tree. I still didn't look down. After a few minutes I felt Optimus' presence below me. " Tobias?" I questioned, using his alias because I knew that Gem could hear us.

" It's all right, Artemis," Prime grunted. " It's all right━I'm here." He climbed a little higher still. " How are you doing, child?"

" I hate heights," I whimpered pathetically. It was then that I was suddenly brave enough to open my eyes and look down at him. Not the ground. _**Never**_ the ground.

" Well, it's okay now, Artemis," Optimus tried to soothe me as he scrambled up onto the big branch just below me. The branch was maybe five feet below, but because he was so tall, he could easily slip and arm over and lock it around the branch that I was standing on. He was quiet for a minute as he assessed the situation. His mouth twisted in consideration. He wasn't going to be able to climb up onto the same branch I was; there was no way it'd hold us both. Finally he came to a decision. " Okay, Artemis, this is how it's going to go. I'm going to hold you and you're going to come down to my branch, all right?"

I simply nodded, closing my eyes again.

" Okay. I'm going to reach up for you now. Just stay still."

I stayed perfectly still as Prime reached up towards me. I felt his strong arm creep slowly around my waist and lock me in a secure hold. I heard the branch below creak slightly as he shifted his weight and changed positions, getting ready to bring me down to where he was. That's when he said the craziest thing ever.

" Okay, Artemis," he started, " now I want you to let go of the trunk…"

My eyes snapped open. " Let go of the trunk?!" I repeated him in panic. " Are you frickin' insane?! I'll fall!"

" No you won't," Optimus assured me calmly but sternly with a shake of his head. " I won't let you. I promise, Artemis. Trust me, I won't let you fall━I promise."

'_I promise… trust me… I promise_': the words rang through my head. I thought long and hard, considering my options, considering the outcomes, considering everything. Trust him? How could I trust him? I barely knew him for crying out loud! But he'd promised. But I still didn't know him━I didn't even like him! However, it had been _**him**_ that I wanted when I'd gotten stuck and become paralyzed up here. I couldn't explain it, but I somehow felt safe with him around… despite everything I'd thought and said about being probed and all that. I still wasn't his biggest fan by all means, but I felt safe with him, and I could somehow tell that he meant his promises. I _**could**_ trust him… at least for this. Anyway, it's not like I had much choice.

" I promise you, Artemis," Optimus vowed one last, still trying to win over my confidence.

Finally I released a deep breath and nodded. " Okay," I finally, hesitantly agreed.

" Good girl," Prime nodded and grinned. " Good girl, now come on. It's okay. Just let go━I got'cha."

" Okay," I repeated steeling myself and getting ready. I loosened my grip on the tree. " Here goes." Taking a deep breath I counted down from three and gently pushed off the tree as I stepped off the branch. It's one of the strangest sensations: falling and being pulled at the same time; and it gave me that weird fluttering in my stomach for a minute. You know, that tickly kind of feeling that you get whenever you drive and coast fast over the rise of a hill? Then I was slamming into Prime's chest. In truth, I crashed into him so hard it's amazing that we both didn't go falling out of the tree and crashing to the ground, but the alien managed to hold on to the branch.

" Oof!" He grunted as he pulled me into him. " Okay. It's okay. I got'cha. I got'cha. Good girl, I got'cha."

Breathing heavily, I screwed my eyes shut and hung on to Optimus like my very existence depended on it. A whimper escaped me before I could help it.

" It's all right, Artemis," Optimus assured me again. " I have you. You're safe." And with that, he tightened his grip around me (not that I wasn't already holding on to him with a deep grip that consisted of both arms and legs anyway) and began to slowly descend down the tree. Finally we were on the ground. It still took a few more minutes of coaxing and reassurance from Prime and Gemma to finally get me to let go of Prime and stand on my own two feet.

Once I was standing, I almost fell to the ground and hugged and kissed it. I loved the ground!

After double checking to make sure I was really okay, Optimus released a sigh that sounded rather relieved. " Okay," he groaned, looking worn out. " Let's all go home now." With that said, he plodded off in the direction of the pick-up, Gemma and I following close at his heels.

The ride home was short and quiet━none of us saying a word; not even Gemma. Every so often I would glance over Gemma's head at Optimus, and every so often I could feel his eyes on me as well. Sometimes we caught each others gaze and then quickly looked away. This had been the second time Prime had saved me and for some reason, the feelings that came out of it were weirder than the feelings the first time. What I mean by that is… I don't really know. I can't explain it. It was just kind of a weird and awkward feeling, but in a good way. What's more, I wasn't quite as resentful towards Prime as I had been before. I still didn't necessarily like him, but I didn't hate and despise him like I had before. It all just felt… really weird.

Anyway, when we finally pulled into the driveway and parked, Gemma scrambled over me, threw open the door, leaped out, and sprinted into the house, all the while announcing to the world at the very top of her lungs, " **I GOTTA PEE!**"

I snorted and Optimus chuckled, and we both leaned against the side of the pick-up as we watched her barrel across the porch and disappear into the house. We stood there in silence for a few minutes more, neither of us moving. Finally I broke the quiet. " Uh…" I cleared my throat, finding both it and my mouth suddenly dry, "... thanks for… uh… for savin' me back there. And… for the time before," I added, realizing that I'd never really thanked him for saving me from the 'Cons.

Optimus just nodded, not looking down at me. Silence seeped back in between us for a moment before he finally stated, " You know, when you're calling me by my alias, you can just call me 'Toby' like your sister does." Then he looked down at me and gave me a small smile. " If you want to, that is."

I couldn't help but smile back at that. " Yeah," I replied, with a slight nod. " I think I'd like that." That said, I pushed off the pick-up and began walking towards the house. Suddenly I paused mid-stride, the hardness seeping back into my heart and I glared back over my shoulder, though the scowl didn't have quite the hatred and potency in it as it did before. " Just to let ya know, _**Toby**_," I growled. " I still don't like you." I struck out for the door again.

* * *

Optimus watched on as Artemis disappeared into the house, an emotionless expression on his face. Once the front door had banged closed though, he couldn't help the slight smirk that creased his lips or the chuckle that rumbled in his chest. He shook his head. " That girl sure is━as the humans say━one tough cookie," he murmured in awe. In truth, despite how bratty and rude the child had been towards him, he still found her quite intriguing. Every moment spent with her was full of surprises. It was right then and there that Optimus came to the conclusion. He liked this girl, and he looked forward to getting to know her and connecting with her in the days to come.


	15. Finding the Light

**Sorry it took me so long to update guys. Life got in the way. That an about five other fanfictions. XDDD Anyway, I know it's not a real exciting chapter, just more of a fluffy one (YAY! FWUFFINESS!) but I still think it's important because it signals a turning point in Artemis' and Optimus' relationship. And I really hope I didn't make Artemis sound like a whiner in this chapter or make Gemma sound too young.**

**Oh, and for the record, if you guys haven't heard on Lindsey Stirling or heard any of her music, you should seriously check her out. SHE'S AWESOME! And I can't play the violin. I can play piano and guitar sorta, can keep a beat on a drum, and can play the baritone, but that's it. Also, it's been a few years since I learned the FOIL method, so in all honesty, before I actually did it again, I'd probably need a bit of a refresher course. XDDD **

**I do not own Transformers (unfortunately), I only own my OC and other characters you may not recognize. **

* * *

" Please tell me now what life is! Please tell me now what love is! Well, tell me now what war is! Again, tell me what life is...!" Iron Maiden;_ For the Greater Good of God_

13

Finding the Light

_Dear Diary, _

_ Four days have gone by since the Supernanny-Menace came to stay with us, and so far not much has happened… well… except for that incident in the tree in the park the first day. Yeah… let's not discuss it…. Anyway, like I said, it's been four days since then (my birthday's just around the corner–a.k.a. TOMORROW!) and, in all honesty, Prime is turning out to be not that bad of a guardian (did I really just admit that?). Turns out he's a quick learner. He's already learned how to make scrambled eggs and grilled cheese and tomato soup (of course), grill hamburgers and steaks, and he's even learned how to cook pasta! And it actually all comes out tasting pretty good. I know right? Who'd've thought that the alien could learn stuff like that and rock at it?! _

_Optimus…. Ya know, it's starting to get to the point where I'm starting to think maybe–just maybe–he really isn't all that bad. I mean I still don't necessarily like him all that much but… it does make me feel safe and secure to know that he's around. To know that he's right there whenever I might need him. I'm not really sure how, but I just seem to know that he'll protect me no matter the cost and that he won't let anything happen to me. Or to Gemma. Gemma really likes him, but, though I'm sure Prime would never play favorites, I get the feeling that he has a little bit more of a soft-spot for me. I can't imagine why, after the way I treated him and the way I still continue to tease him, but I guess there's a lot of things about him that I'll never understand. As far as that goes, there's still a lot of stuff about myself that I don't understand. Like the fact that I've written an entire journal entry about nothing but the alien. _

_What…_

_The actual…_

_ Fuck?_

* * *

I stared down at the journal page in sheer amazement and shock. Optimus, Optimus, Optimus—it was about nothing but Prime! What the hell was going on with me?! And the scary thing about it, is that it was all too true! Prime really wasn't as bad as I'd thought he would be, and he actually was a good cook (though we still did eat out or order in quite a bit), and I really did feel safer with him around. A slight wave of disbelief went through me. Was I actually starting to _**like**_ this guy? God, help me!

I didn't have too much longer to stress out and worry about the issue though, because, right at that moment, Gemma came bursting into the room. " Artemis!" she called, running in and jumping up onto my bed where I was sitting. " Hi," she greeted me with a beaming grin.

I smirked back at my wigless sister. " Hey, bug-a-boo," I chuckled. " What's up?"

My little sister must've been on one of her hyper spells, because the next thing I knew, she was bouncing up and down on my mattress on her knees. " It's so hot today. Are you hot? Because I'm really, really , _**really**_ hot! You wanna go outside and set up the sprinkler and we can run through it? Do ya? Huh?" Her mouth was moving at 100 miles an hour.

I couldn't help but laugh, and then I began to consider what she was proposing. She had a point. The June heat was definitely present today, as was the humidity (before my encounter with the shard, my hair would've reacted by frizzing out and making it look like there was an animal eating my head), and this was just late morning! It'd get worse as the day went on. We had yet to get a working air conditioner for the upstairs of the house (the one we had already only worked about 25% of the time) and, as it was, it was already so warm in my room that I'd put my long black and blue-silver-and-red striped hair up in a messy bun and traded in my usual attire for short denim cutoffs, an American-flag printed crop-top, and bare feet. I usually don't like to bare _**that**_ much of myself (especially with a guy around—if it was just Mom, Gem, and me, it'd be a bit different), but it was so hot at the moment that I didn't care.

Setting aside my diary, I wiped my bangs—which were sticking to my forehead with sweat—out of my face. Then I wiped the sweat from the back of my neck. Man, I was already drenched with perspiration and I'd barely moved at all that morning! " Actually," I said, sitting up and uncrossing my legs, causing them to make a slight ripping sound they were so sticky with sweat, " that is not a bad idea. You head down and pull out the sprinkler and the hose and take 'em out to the yard and I'll hook 'em up okay?"

Gemma's face beamed with joy. " Yes!" she whooped, pumping a fist in the air. Then she leaped off my bed and sprinted out the door and down the hall. All the while she kept cheering.

I chuckled and shook my head. My little sister—God love her. Groaning, I scooted off my bed, stood, and stretched making my back and shoulders pop. " Holy shit!" I cried out. I collapsed to my knees and nearly fell flat on my face before I caught myself.

There came the sound of hurrying footsteps out in the hall and then Optimus was at the door of my room, looking concerned. " Is everything alright?" he asked, sounding worried.

Not even looking up, I nodded and giggled. " You ever had something happen to you that caused both physical pain and pleasure at the same time?" I questioned, looking up this time.

Optimus, standing there in nothing but a pair of camo men's shorts, nodded, some of the worry draining away from his face. " Yes," he answered.

I giggled again. " Well, that's what happens when you pop both your back and your shoulders at the same time."

Realizing that that's why I cried out, Prime rolled his electro-blue eyes and snorted. " You humans are something else," he remarked with a smirk.

Instead of acting like I was offended by the comment, I simply smirked back at him, much to both of our surprise I'm sure. Rolling off to the side so that I was now sitting on the floor with one of my arms draped across my knee, I pointed up at the man. " Hey, don't hate—appreciate," I teased him. " Besides, you're human too now, ya know."

Once again Optimus rolled his eyes at me. " Don't remind me," he groaned. With that he turned away and retreated back down the hall.

As he left, something on his back caught my eye, something that looked an awful lot like a… scar? My curiosity got the better of me. Raising an eyebrow, I once again got to my feet and quietly padded out of my room and down the hall to the guest bedroom where Prime was staying. The door was still open. I pressed myself flat against the wall, crept closer, and then peeked around the corner to see Prime, his back to me as he dug into a drawer of his dresser to grab a shirt. My eyes widened in shock. It _**was**_ a scar! It was huge, maybe a about ten inches in length and maybe half an inch to an inch wide. It was paler than the rest of his skin tone, a bit jagged, somewhat shiny and raised like scars usually are, and located just to the right of his spine between his shoulder-blades. I suddenly remembered a memory of Prime's. It wasn't one I really liked, because it showed Megatron killing Optimus by shoving a blade up through his spark from his back. " Holy crap..." the whispered words left my mouth before I could stop them.

Prime turned around to look at me and gave me a questioning look. " Artemis?" he said, cocking his head slightly to the side. " Is there something wrong?"

It took a moment for his question to reach my brain, but when it did I tried my best to shake off the shock. " Uh..." I closed my eyes and shook my heads, "... no." I looked up and met his eyes. " No, every... ahem... everything's fine." I stepped into the doorway. " Just, uh... just wanted to let you know that Gemma and I are setting up the sprinkler and hose in the backyard to run through."

Apparently not thinking anything more of my excuse, Optimus nodded with a contemplative look. " Perhaps I'll join you out back."

At that I snorted and rolled my eyes. " You do know that its usually only just kids that run through sprinklers, right?" I told him with a smirk. " I mean, it's not really an activity adults get caught doing. Well, at least not adult males."

Optimus just chuckled and smirked back, putting his fists on his hips. " Well, thank you for your concern," he retorted good-naturedly, " but it is so hot on your planet today, that I think I'll risk my mechly pride."

I laughed and shook my head. " Whatever you say, chief," I replied. I don't know where the nickname came from, but it seemed to fit. " Just don't come crying to me when you get caught running through a Care Bear sprinkler."

" Dually noted," Prime answered. With that said, he turned back around to the open dresser drawer and pulled out an army green t-shirt. He put it on.

I couldn't help but stare at the scar until it was hidden by the shirt, and then I quickly turned and left. Absentmindedly, I reached up and touched the little marks and the small lump on my left jaw. I wasn't the only one scarred.

* * *

I sat in the shade of the awning on our back porch (actually it was just more like a slab of concrete with a picnic table, chairs, and grill) and watched as my sister worked off her hyperness by running back and forth through the cool water that was being sprayed around by the spinning Cheer Bear sprinkler (I'd gotten it for Gemma for her seventh birthday when she'd been big into Care bears). My shorts and crop-top were soaked. I'd spent a good half-hour running through the water with Gemma, but my leg was still healing from when Megatron's good doctor had stabbed me and it had let me know that it was a good time to calm down a rest. Right now I was content with watching my baby sister's fun.

Suddenly Gemma stopped in her tracks and turned to face me. " Hey, Artemis," the nine-year-old in the pink (_**please**_ do not ask '-_-) swimsuit called up at me. " Can you play something for me on your violin?"

I say up, moving my sunglasses up to the top of my head. " Sure," I called back, " but why?"

" I wanna go dancing in the rain!" my sister answered plainly. Then she went back to skipping through the water.

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head and chuckled. Only Gemma. I got to my feet and retreated back into the house and back up the stairs to my room to retrieve the requested object. When I came back out, I sat back down and pulled my mahogany violin out of the case. After rosining up the bow and tuning the strings, I turned back to Gemma who was still skipping around. " What do you want me to play?"

Gemma once again stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment before her face lit up. " Play 'River Flows in You'," she answered.

I gave her a look. " I'm not very good at that one yet, Gemma."

" Good, then this will be practice for you."

" It's awful slow."

" I don't care—I like it! Besides, I can do ballet to it."

I snorted. " You don't know ballet."

She shrugged. " What's that matter? I can still dance my kind of ballet to it."

Rolling my eyes, I began to move into position to play. " Whatever you say." And with that I began to play. I'd fallen in love with this piece after hearing Lindsey Stirling play it **[A/N this girl is EPIC!] **and had quickly found sheet music to begin learning it. After practicing it so much, I had the whole thing memorized, but I still had yet to master it. There were some parts of it that I really struggled with, though I wasn't completely sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the speed. Like I said, compared to some of the other songs I'd played, 'River Flows in You' was a fairly slow piece, and I was more used to playing fast/mostly fast pieces (you know the Charlie Daniel's song 'The Devil Went Down to Jordan'? I can _**rock**_ that part!). Who knows?

Anyway, I played the song, working over the parts that tripped me up. I closed my eyes in order to help me concentrate better, and it did seem to work the slightest bit. Finally I was winding down to the end of the song—that part I really needed to work on. I concentrated harder and worked through it, and when I came up to that really high last note I worked even harder to make it come out sounding like it was supposed to. The note was a little shaky and weak, but for the most part it sounded okay. I smiled to myself. " Getting better each time," I murmured. Then I heard a long hand-clap. I almost jumped, my eyes flying open as I looked up to see Optimus standing there, clapping.

" That was excellent," he praised me.

I felt my face heat up the tiniest bit. Never had I ever expected the alien to be complimenting me on anything. " Um... thanks, but I'm not sure that's how I would've put it," I replied setting my violin back in its case.

" I can't possibly see what you mean," Optimus responded, sounding a bit shocked. " I've heard a lot of Earth music since I came to your planet, but I've never heard anything that sounded quite that beautiful."

I couldn't help but snort. " If you wanna hear something that's really beautiful, you should listen to that same song when it's done by the girl who inspired me to learn it. She's magnificent—way better than me. I can't even get through the whole song without screwing up at least six times and having to go back over the section so that I can get it. And even then I still mess up."

" Regardless," Prime said with a shake of his head, " what you just did with that instrument was beautiful, in my opinion." Without warning, Optimus suddenly sunk down to my level and put a hand on my shoulder. He looked deep into my eyes, even though mine were hidden behind sunglasses. " I know that you may not think it, Artemis," he said softly, and I could hear the sincerity behind his words, " but you are a very talented and special girl. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise and don't sell yourself short. You're more of a treasure than you believe."

I was completely speechless. No one had ever said anything that nice to be before, not even my own father when he'd been around. I was suddenly very thankful to be wearing sunglasses, because, if I hadn't, I'm sure Optimus would've been able to see the slight tears shining in them. " Th-thank you, Optimus," I croaked out, finding it hard to speak around the sudden lump in my throat.

Optimus simply smiled gently at me, patted my shoulder, stood, turned, and walked out of the shade and out into the yard. " Is there enough room for me to cool off as well, Gemma?" he playfully teased my little sister.

Gemma giggled at our guardian. " Only if you can catch me! Tag! You're it, Toby!"

* * *

Gemma and I stared at the text books and notebooks that were sitting out on the table in front of us: my sister's stare out of simple surprise, mine out of both surprise and horror. It had been a little over an two hour since we'd come in from playing around in the sprinkler (in case you were wondering: no, Prime did not get caught running through the sprinkler with us, and I wasn't going to tell anyone... at least not until the information could profit me in some way :D), changed, had dinner (**PIZZA!**), and had a rest. Now my sister and I were seated at the kitchen table with math books laid out in front of us. _**Math books!**_

" What the hell is this?!" I shrieked, looking up at the alien with wide eyes.

" Your mother instructed me that, in her absence, I was to make sure that you girls began your studies," Optimus answered.

" Why?" Gemma asked, calmly looking up.

" Well, since you girls didn't finish out the last few school days because you moved here, your mother wants you to catch up on what you missed so that you'll be ready for classes next year."

" You _**cannot**_ be serious," I declared.

Cue the 'I-am-very-serious-look'.

" But... summer vacation just practically started! Both here and the school that we left!" I exclaimed.

" I know," Optimus answered calmly, straightening himself up after he'd been leaning over the table. " And the sooner you finish your studies, the sooner you will be able to enjoy it." With that said, the robot-turned-human left the kitchen and went into the living room. The sound of the television turning on followed a second later.

I stared after him in disbelief. This was so not happening! This had to be a dream! Turning back, I looked at Gemma, only to see that she'd cracked her book open and was already beginning on the first lesson. Sighing, I slumped back in my chair, defeated. " _Why me?_" I silently questioned, looking up at the ceiling. " _Why me? Why? Why?!_" Then I looked back at the books. Sighing once again, I sat up, scooted forward and opened both the text and note book then picked up the pencil. I began to read. Math. Math! Why did it have to be math?!

I stared down at the blank piece of paper, my hand with the pencil poised over the paper while the other held my forehead. Frustration and anger boiled through me.

This totally...

Completely...

Sucked.

I'd been sitting at the table for nearly and hour-and-a-half! It'd taken me about twenty to thirty minutes to read through the lesson, and the rest of the time I'd just been sitting here, gazing going back and forth between the blank page of my notebook and the first problem in my math book: _Find the simplest form of (12x+10)(7x+3) using the FOIL method. _FOIL method? So far all I really know about FOIL was that it was what the lesson had been about! I didn't know how to use it! Even looking back at it, it still didn't make sense to me. In the examples how did they go from one thing and get to the other thing in the end result? What did FOIL stand for again? First, opposite... no, that wasn't it! First, outside, inverse... ugh! It didn't make sense!

And it didn't help that Gemma had finished her math lesson a long time ago. She'd always been good with numbers; another thing I envied. She was going to be in fourth grade, and she was already practically doing Pre-Algebra all on her goddamn own! What I wouldn't have given to have some of her brains.

Growling in frustration, I threw my pencil down. Enough of this shit—I was done! I jammed the notebook into the text book and slammed it shut before roughly scooting back from the table and standing up. Grabbing the books, I marched out of the kitchen and into the living room where I stood in the doorway with one arm wrapped around my books and a fist perched on my hip. " I'm done," I announced.

Gemma was curled up on the couch, nose stuck in another Harry Potter book. She paid me no mind.

Optimus, who was seated in the recliner and looking over Gemma's assignment, looked up at me and nodded. " Good," he said. " Bring it over here."

My stomach suddenly plunged and I gulped. Slowly, I made my way across the room and then hand the book over to him.

" Thank you," he said, sitting it down in his lap.

With that, I spun on a heel and hurried out of the room, down the hallway, up the stairs, and into my room. I slammed the door and then walked over and flopped down on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I silently waited.

It wasn't fifteen minutes later there was a soft knock on my door. " Artemis?" Optimus even tone came through the door.

I didn't answer.

My door creaked open and Prime peeked into my room. " Artemis," he repeated, " we need to talk about this assignment."

Without a word, I rolled over onto my side so that my back was to the door.

The door closed with the sound of footsteps coming in my direction following soon after. Then my mattress dipped down as the man sat down at the edge of my bed. " Artemis?"

" I didn't lie," I pointed out sharply. " I finished reading the lesson."

" That may be true," Optimus answered, voice still calm and smooth, " but you didn't even start on the problems."

Once again, I was silent.

Optimus sighed heavily. " All right," he yielded. Then he stood back up and began to walk back across my room towards the door.

Slight tears bit at my eyes and a tightness formed in my throat. " It's not fair," the choked words left my lips before I could think.

Optimus paused. " What?"

" It's just not fair," I reiterated. " I'm six years older than her, and she's already this close to passing me up with grades." I sniffled and a small sobbed escaped me.

The footsteps came back, and once more my mattress bent as Optimus sat down beside me. " Who is, young one?"

" Gemma!" I bellowed, tears blurring my vision. " She's always been smarter than me. She's always been better in school and gotten better grades. And it's the worst in math! I have to work twice as hard as she does to understand something! I hate math! I hate school! I'm so stupid I can't even understand what FOIL's an acronym for! I'm... I'm just a fucking stupid idiot!" With that, I grabbed onto my panda pillow pet, Po, buried my face in it, and started to cry like the pathetic loser I was.

Suddenly Optimus' hand was on my shoulder. " Shh, young one," he gently soothed me. " Shh, it's all right. It's all right." He continued to whisper softly too me as he comfortingly squeezed my shoulder and rubbed between my shoulder-blades. Finally he calmed me down enough to where I would actually listen while he talked. " Artemis," he said, his voice soft but firm as he continued to rub my shoulders, " listen to me, and listen well. You are not stupid."

" Yes I am," I mumbled, my face still buried in my stuffed animal.

" No you're not," Prime assured me. " Listen to me. You're not stupid and you're not an idiot, you just simply do not have the same capacity for understanding mathematics like your sister does."

" That makes me an idiot."

" No it doesn't. It just means that you don't learn in the same way she does, and that doesn't make you stupid at all. Everybody learns in their own way and at their own pace, Artemis."

" Yeah, and I don't learn at all because I'm so friggin' stupid."

Once again, Optimus sighed and began to mumble under his breath in that strange guttural language of his. Then he put his hand back on my shoulder. " Artemis," he softly crooned, " can you roll over and look at me? Please?"

Sniffling, I slowly did as I was told, but I refrained from making eye contact with him.

" Look at me," Prime repeated.

Even more slowly, I lifted my eyes to his.

" Now," he said, looking deep into my hazel-green eyes, " tell me again why you believe you're stupid."

" I don't understand math—math my baby sister can do without a second thought."

" So, you believe that because you're unable to do something your sister can do with ease, it makes you stupid."

" How could it not?"

Optimus nodded for a minute, a contemplative look on his face. " Well, think about it this way," he said after a moment. " What about all the things that you can do that Gemma can't do so well?"

I snorted cynically. " Like what?"

" Well, you can write, correct?"

" Yeah."

" Can Gemma do the same?"

" Yes."

" To the capacity you can?"

" Well... no..."

" Can she play the violin like you?"

" She can't play the violin at all."

" All right. How about the piano? I know that you're very good at that, is Gemma?"

" Well she can play, if that's what you mean. But she really struggles with it and she's just on the beginner's lessons."

" Can she sing like you?"

" You know I can sing?"

" Your bathroom isn't exactly soundproof, child," Prime responded with a chuckle.

I blushed. " No, Gem can't sing. She doesn't even really like to."

" And so all of the things that you can do that Gemma can't—does any of that mean she's stupid?"

I quickly sat up, shaking my head and grinning. " Hell, no! That girl's a brainiac!"

Optimus smiled at me and shook his head. " Then don't you see? Just because you can't do something that someone else can doesn't mean you're stupid either. You may not be as good as Gemma when it comes to a few things, Artemis, but you're amazing at other things that she can't do."

" Is this the whole 'I'm a treasure' speech again?" I asked, giving him a look.

" In a way," he nodded.

" What does that even mean?"

Prime chuckled warmly. Reaching out with a large, warm hand, he gently brushed my bangs out of my eyes. " It means you're special," he murmured. I'm not entirely sure if the alien knew what he was really doing, but the next thing I knew he was wiping the remainder of my tears away with the callused pad of his thumb.

Normally, I would've freaked out, but for some reason this gesture made me feel so safe and warm that the thought never even entered my mind. Before I knew what I was doing, my eyes were drifting closed and I was turning my head into his touch. I rubbed my cheek against his knuckles.

Optimus opened his hand in response and cupped my cheek with a leathery, warm palm. He continued to stroke my cheekbone.

Instinctively, both of my hands reached up and placed themselves atop his to hold it closer. A tender, soothing feeling that I hadn't felt since the day my dad left suddenly began to creep into my stone of a heart. I opened my eyes and met Optimus', looking deep into them and feeling like they were gazing right into my soul in turn. That's when I saw something. My heart skipped a beat. Was it just me... or was there a real hint of... affection... held within those startling electro-blue orbs of his? A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

After a long moment of silence, Optimus finally broke it by clearing his throat. He pulled his hand away from my cheek, reached over to the book he'd set on my bedside table, and brought it back. " Well," he announced, opening the text back up to the lesson I'd been instructed to complete, " how about we do this lesson together?"

I looked from the book up at him in disbelief. " You—an alien robot-turned-human from a distant planet—are going to teach me—a human—Earth math?"

Prime shrugged with a smirk. " There's a first time for everything isn't there?" he responded.

I laughed, rolled my eyes, and turned back to the open page. " Whatever you say, chief."

We spent the next hour re-reading the lesson and actually working on the problems. Prime was extremely patient with me, helping me to understand everything I was doing and making sure that I knew what was going on and what I did right and wrong. By the time we were halfway through the lesson, I was sure of two things. One: FOIL stood for 'first, outside, inside, last' and was not that bad. And two: Prime was actually a pretty good teacher. Who knew?

* * *

**And because it's a really cool story, y'all should seriously check out:**

**Transformers Mystical: Lost Sparklings by Alice Gone Madd**

**Six teenage girls have a secret-each different yet share the same idea. Hush. Now they know each other their whole lives, but when one of girls sees something she drags her sister down with her in order to find what they lost, but not expecting what they had in mind. What she wanted to know: "Where am I from?" Join them on a journey of a lifetime... Dare to join?**


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